


The Awakening Effect

by JadeiteART



Category: Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), Tanz der Vampire - Steinman/Kunze
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Real World, F/M, Gen, Herbert & Magda friendship, Herbert/OC, Krolock/OC, M/M, Sarah/Alfred, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-06-21 21:55:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15567156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeiteART/pseuds/JadeiteART
Summary: Present day. A German woman, in Romania for work, accidentally ends up in the middle of the Carpathians, stirring up the everyday life of a bunch of superstitious peasants, not to mention a local vampire lord and his family.Sequel to the show, created around the idea of TDV and TFVK being based off real events. A fresh dose of mystery, drama, and romance in the spirit of the musical.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I'm relatively new to Tanz. I discovered it only sometime in late March 2018 but I loved it right from the start. I had expected to find a lot of fanfiction about it so imagine my surprise (and disappointment) when I found so few. So I decided to contribute to the fandom with something of my own. 
> 
> DISCLAIMER 1: Story based on the musical "Tanz der Vampire" which belongs to Kunze, Steinman, and Polanski, who also takes the credit for the movie "The Fearless Vampire Killers" the musical is based off. I only write this for fun and make absolutely no money out of it.
> 
> DISCLAIMER 2: The characters look and personality is NOT based on any specific cast (also because in this universe the musical exists and so do the various actors) but rather a personal interpretation of lyrics/plotline. The settings contain some elements from BOTH stage sets but have been reworked to fit the realism factor.
> 
> Now, off to Transylvania! Fühl die Nacht und lass es nie vorüber gehen!

**\- CHAPTER 1 - A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS -**

 

With a loud chug, the bus stopped to a halt. Meike woke up from her slumber and looked confusedly around. The few other passengers were glancing towards the front of the bus, muttering something in Romanian. She had no idea what they were saying but judging by the concern in their tone, something was wrong.

Wiping some mist off the window, she peeked outside and saw nothing but gloom. Strange, she thought. She was convinced that taking the bus around 11 a.m. she would've made it to Hunedoara by early afternoon.

Intent on checking the time and location, she retrieved her phone from her bag just to find the battery dead. Meanwhile, the driver came back inside and addressed the passengers. Two sentences in panic ensued. People jumped off their seats and grabbed at their bags, ignoring the driver who continued to speak over the noise.

"What's going on?" Meike asked the person closest to her. "What did he say?"

The woman only shook her head. "Imi pare rau. Nu înțeleg."

"You don't speak English, huh? Sprechen Sie Deutsch?"

"Nu înțeleg," the woman repeated.

Standing up, Meike shouted out loud, "Does anyone here speak English? Spricht hier jemand Deutsch?"

Nobody cared to reply. One by one the passengers got out of the bus until she was the only one left.

The driver approached her.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

The man replied but he did so in that language she didn't understand a single word of. Then he urged her off her seat.

Grabbing her luggage, she got out of the bus and scanned her surroundings. Mountain wilderness spread in all directions with no sign of civilization of sight.

"Where are we? How far is it to Hunedoara?"

The driver, who had followed her outside, flashed her a baffled look. "Doamnă, nu suntem nicăieri lângă Hunedoara."

All she got out of that sentence was the name of the city.

The man pointed forward. "Există un sat cam la un kilometru de aici. Puteți găsi adăpost acolo," he said and then hopped back on the bus, closing the door behind. Through the glass Meike saw him dial a number on his cell, perhaps calling for car service.

Why couldn't she just fly in directly to Timisoara with Karl? Why did she have to take a different route through Bucharest so she could visit Bran and Hunedoara on her way there? Why? Just why?

Eventually, she pulled herself together and hit the road. The man had said something about a kilometer. If that was the distance left to Hunedoara she could just as well make it on foot.

She walked for what felt like forever but there still was nothing even vaguely resembling a city. Then, as if things weren't bad enough already, a thunder echoed somewhere in the distance. Moments later it began to rain.

Meike pulled the hood of her raincoat and sped up. This road had to lead somewhere and hopefully, she'd get there before the storm got worse.

A motorbike appeared from behind a curve. Passing her by, it skidded to a halt, almost crashing down on the wet concrete. She stopped and glanced anxiously across her shoulder. The biker was staring back at her. After a moment he raised one arm and pointed: first forward, then to the left. It looked as if he was trying to give her directions. Then he just drove off into the night.

With renewed hope Meike resumed her walk and passing the curve, she discovered a side road going to the left. It seemed to lead only deeper into the woods but as she went on she spotted a cluster of lights flickering in the distance.

Hidden within the wilderness, there was a village. A narrow road ran between two rows of decrepit huts, ending in a small square with a stone well in the middle. On the other side, there was a larger building that, judging by the noises coming from inside, had to be the local watering hole. The signboard by the entrance read: Hayman Hub.

Meike approached the building and snorted. There, right above the door hung a garland made of garlic. She'd already noticed similar decorations on other households. There was garlic above doors and windows. Garlic by the gates. Garlic in the gardens. Garlic. Garlic everywhere. She knew well enough that, according to lore, the bulbous plant was a repellent for vampires, mythological creatures Transylvania was famous for, and kind of expected to find it laying around but not in such copious amounts.

"At least it's integral so it doesn't s-" she cut mid-word when opening the door, she was overwhelmed by the familiar stench. She liked some garlic occasionally but this was way too much.

A middle-aged, dark-haired man came out to greet her. "Bună seara," he said in a jovial tone. "Numele meu este Hayman și bun venit la hanul meu."

Hayman… That was the name of the signpost. He had to be the innkeeper.

"Do you speak English? Oder sprechen Sie Deutsch?" Meike asked for the umptieth time this evening.

To her surprise, the man replied, "Ja, ein bisschen Deutsch."

Thank goodness. At least they'd manage to communicate somehow.

"I'm in a bit of a situation here," she said slowly so the innkeeper could understand her without problems. "Is there a chance I could get a room for the night?"

Hayman wavered for a second but eventually, he broke into an exaggerated smile and said, "Of course! Follow me!" Taking Meike's suitcase, he led her all the way to the attic and invited her into one of the rooms. "Our finest suite!" he boasted. "Next door, there is also a very comfortable bathroom!"

Really, the room was large but rather humble: plain white walls, a wooden floor, a few essential pieces of furniture. Above the bed, there hung a cross and on the windowsill, there lay some garlic. The bathroom too was nothing special but at least it was clean and the appliances were in decent shape.

"My daughter, Eugenia is staying in the other room." Hayman gestured to the door to the left. "I'll tell her to get you some bed sheets and a towel. If you'd like to eat something in the meantime, come downstairs. There should still be some goulash left."

"Thanks. I'll come down in a minute."

The innkeeper nodded yes and headed back downstairs. Left alone, Meike retrieved her phone and charger and finding an outlet behind the bed, she plugged the device in. It would take time to charge enough to power up so she just left it on the bed and went to check out that dinner.

The second she entered the dining hall, all eyes were on her. Trying to ignore the curious stares, she headed for a free table in a far corner but was intercepted by Hayman.

"Come to sit with us," the innkeeper said dragging her to a table in the middle where three other men already sat. "Gabor, Dumitru, and Costache," he introduced them.

"Meike Eckstein." She offered each a handshake.

"Zhenia!" Hayman yelled towards the kitchen. "Bring us some goulash and five more beers!"

Moments later a young woman entered the hall. She was a pretty redhead, soft and curvy, with rosy cheeks and sparkling dark eyes, dressed in a simple dress underneath a dirty apron. Coming to their table, she handled Meike a steaming plate and a beer mug.

The German just smelled the goulash and grabbed at the beer. Suddenly she wasn't quite so hungry anymore.

"May I ask you, Frau Eckstein, what are you doing here?" the man called Costache inquired.

"I was on my way to Hunedoara but the bus broke in the middle of the road," Meike explained. "The driver had everyone get out. He said we were only about a kilometer away."

"You must have gotten it wrong." Gabor scratched his curly beard. "Hunedoara is on the other side of the country."

Meike felt panic crawl up her neck. "What?"

"Liebe Frau, we're in the Carpathians up North."

"Ca-Carpathians?" she stuttered. She'd noticed the mountains but she thought they were the Transylvanian Alps.

"Don't worry," Costache said. "There should be a bus-"

"There aren't any buses," Dumitru cut him down.

"Some express lines pass by the highway," Gabor threw in his five cents, "but they don't make any stops around here."

"Are you telling me I can't get out of here?!"

"No, of course not," Hayman assured. "I plan on driving to Vatra Dornei one of these days. I could take you with me," he offered, "if you'd be so kind as to contribute to the gas."

If she managed to get to Vatra it would be a step forward. There she would certainly find a bus or a train that would take her to Timisoara.

"When are you planning to go?" she asked the innkeeper.

"Don't know yet. Thursday perhaps."

Thursday?! That was in four days! What the hell was she supposed to do there for four days?! Not to mention her boss would kill her.

"The company I work for is expecting me to show up at their side office in Timisoara first thing tomorrow morning. It's going to be bad enough if I will be late by just one day."

Hayman threw his arms in the air. "What do you want me to do?"

"Take me to Vatra tomorrow."

"No."

"I'll pay."

"Perhaps we can go on Wednesday if the weather is good."

Wednesday! Ha! Like that would make much of a difference!

"Is there anyone here who could take me to Vatra tomorrow morning? I will pay them.”

The men laughed.

“We are poor people, Liebe Frau,” Dumitru said. “Herr Hayman is the only one of us to own a car.”

Meike gave up. Leaving the goulash untouched, to the joy of Gabor who immediately grabbed at her plate, she returned to her room and powered up her phone. There were three unanswered calls and a dozen messages. All of them from Karl. Immediately, she called back.

A single beep later the man picked up. "Meike," he exclaimed over the phone, "where are you?"

"I don't know exactly. Somewhere near Vatra Dornei."

"In the mountains? What the hell are you doing there?"

In a few words, Meike told him about everything that had happened that day, from the moment she took that wretched bus in Brasov to the dinner she had with the four locals. "I'm literally blocked here until Thursday," she concluded helplessly. "When they find out about this at the office, I'll end up fired."

"You won't," Karl assured her. “I will cover for you. Everything will be fine."

As usual, Karl was there for her. 

"Meike," his voice over the phone sounded  worried, "take care of yourself."

"I will. Gute Nacht, Karl."

Hanging up, she walked to the window and stared at the storm raging outside. A shiver crawled up her spine as if she were being watched but she couldn't see anything through the thick curtain of rain. Then lightning cracked the sky illuminating a lonely figure standing motionless in the downpour.

A sudden knock on the door made her jump out of her skin. "Come in," she called, calming down her racing heart.

Eugenia entered the room, carrying some white linens and a couple of towels.

"Put it all on the bed," Meike said, returning her attention to the window.

Eugenia joined her. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"There was a man standing right there by the well."

It flashed again but the square appeared to be deserted.

"Eat a lot of garlic and wear a cross on you at all times and he won't touch you."

Meike flashed the younger girl an inquisitive look. "Who won't touch me?"

Eugenia ignored the question. "If you need anything, I'll be next door."

"Zhenia," Meike called out to her. "Who was that man? What does he want from me?" she insisted but the innkeeper's daughter just slammed the door in her face.

Resigned, she grabbed the towel and a few essential items from her bag and headed for the bathroom. There was barely any hot water left but she'd rather had a cool bath than none. Sinking in the tub, she watched the raindrops traveling down the panels of the skylight above her head. A shadow moved on the other side of the glass but it turned out it was just a tree branch torn by the storm.

That night she had trouble falling asleep. She had never been afraid of the dark, but in this room full of garlic in a mountain inn in a foreign land the night seemed to come alive with a sinister chant of a thousand disembodied voices. Shadows took shape, reaching out to her with their long fingers. An undefined menace hung in the air. Something was coming.

 

*******

 

Hayman let the last customers out and standing under the tin roof, he lit up a cigarette. It had been a long day, especially with the unexpected arrival of the German.

When she asked for a room, he had hesitated. They hadn't rented a room in decades. If they ever got visitors, it was usually some truck drivers who only wanted a warm meal before hitting back on the road. Running the bar on the first floor, they used the second and the attic as living quarters but there were enough rooms to spare one for the woman and make some good money out of it.

"Guten Abend, Hayman."

The innkeeper dropped his cigarette when a dark figure suddenly emerged from the darkness. "What do you want?" he barked, lighting up another one.

The man grinned, showing off his teeth. "What do you think I want?"

So he had already found out about their new guest. No wonder. With her highlighted hair and fancy clothing, the woman screamed city slacker.

The man looked past Hayman's shoulder and waved his hand. The innkeeper glanced behind and through the open door he saw his daughter standing in the hall, her gaze transfixed on their night visitor. "Zhenia!" he cried. "Go back upstairs!"

Eugenia snapped out of her trance, threw him a fearful look and ran off.

With burning eyes, Hayman turned back to the man before him. "Do what you like with that woman," he hissed, "but stay away from my daughter."

"Who is she?" the man asked calmly. Hayman's threats didn't seem to affect him in the slightest.

"Her name's Meike Eckstein," the innkeeper told him. "She was headed to Hunedoara but mixed up her buses or something and ended up here instead."

"Tourist?"

"She said she had some work-related business to attend to in Timisoara. I think she just wanted to visit the Corvin Castle on her way there."

"She'll probably want to leave first thing in the morning. Make sure that doesn't happen."

"It won't. Gador and Dumitru told her there was no public transport. She panicked so I offered to take her to Vatra one of these days but you know how it is. The weather could be bad. The car could break."

The man smiled contentedly. "I like your thinking, Hayman. Gute Nacht."

"Gute Nacht, Exzellenz," the innkeeper replied with false courtesy. He followed the man's dark silhouette with his eyes until it melted back into the night. "Blestemat draculu," he spat with disgust before retreating back to the safety of the house.

 

*******

 

Meike woke up late in the morning, remembering nothing of the nightmares tormenting her during the night. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, she came downstairs hoping to get something edible for breakfast. It's been a whole day since her last meal and her stomach was reminding her loudly about its needs.

Taking a seat by the window, she was soon approached by a young man holding a pen and a notepad.

"Morgen!" he greeted with a friendly smile. "You must be the lost German my sister told me about."

So he was the innkeeper's kid too. She would've never guessed since he was slender, his features were more angled and his hair, while still brown, lacked that distinct reddish cast.

"What do I get you?" he asked.

"A coffee and…" Meike balked, wrinkling her nose. "Do you have anything garlic-free?"

"Eat garlic," came a raspy voice. It belonged to an elderly woman sitting by the fireplace. "Garlic will protect you."

“Protect me from what?”

The waiter flashed Meike an apologetic look. "Don't mind my grandma. She's just convinced the smell of garlic can ward off evil. Now, how about scrambled eggs and some sandwiches?" he changed the topic back to the breakfast issue at hand.

"Yeah, eggs will be fine. Thank you."

A quarter later, the waiter returned carrying a tray with the eggs, a couple of pieces of bread with lard and a coffee pot. There weren't any other customers he'd have to attend to, so Meike asked him to sit down with her. In the next hour she learned his name was Anton, he was twenty-one and his biggest dream was to get the hell out of there.

"My father wants me to marry Alina Gabor and take over the business one day," he said sadly, "but I don't want to spend my life running an inn in the middle of nowhere married to some girl I don't even like. I want to travel. I want to see the world, meet people, learn things. I want to be able to do what I want, to say what I want, to love who I want. I just want…"

"You just want to be yourself," Meike guessed.

Anton nodded. "Yeah."

"You know, I used to be just like you once,” she said confidentially. “There were people who wanted to decide my life for me but I wouldn't let them. Today I live in Berlin, I have a well-paid job and a wonderful boyfriend."

"Are you happy?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm happy." Why shouldn't she be? She had it all, didn't she?

She talked to Anton some more during the day but as the evening approached and the dining hall filled out he didn't have much time to slack anymore. It had finally stopped raining so dropping the raincoat in favor of her favorite red leather jacket, she went to stretch her legs. Strolling purposelessly along the narrow streets, she eventually came by a small orthodox church.

She was admiring the colorful frescos when a gentle, heavily-accented voice spoke out to her, "You must be the German woman everyone is talking about."

Meike turned around and saw a priest coming towards her. "Yes, that's me," she confirmed.

"Duhovnic," a familiar looking man emerged from a side door, "Tânărul Hayman vrea să vorbească cu tine."

"Spune-le că voi fi acolo, Costache."

"Excuse me," the priest turned back to Meike, "but I have business to attend to. You see, the innkeeper's son is about to have a child and-"

"Anton is having a child?!"

"No. His older brother, Petra is."

"Anton doesn't even seem interested in getting married," Costache commented. "There's something off about that boy, I'm telling you."

"Costache, please refrain yourself."

"Iarta-ma, Duhovnic."

"Now go and tell Petra I'll be with him in a moment."

When the sexton left, the priest sighed, "In the short time I've known him, Costache has proven himself to be a loyal and hard-working servant. Hadn't he only been so rude."

Meike didn’t know how to comment on that.

The priest continued, "He told me you were going to Hunedoara.”

"I was," she admitted, "but it looks like I got on the wrong bus and ended up here instead."

"Don't let it crush your spirits. Here too you can find something to admire. We have the mountains and the forest..."

"If only you had a castle!"

The priest stayed suspiciously silent.

"Wait," Meike perked up, "you do have a castle?"

"I'd like to tell you that we don't but as a minister of God it is my duty to speak the truth and the truth is, there is an old castle up in the woods. I'd advise you, however, not to venture in there."

"Why not?"

"You will find nothing but death there."

Meike didn't take the priest's words too seriously and taking a few shots of the church interior, she headed towards the edge of the village. Soon, houses began to give way to pines, beeches, oaks, alders, and firs until on both sides of the road, there was nothing but woods. After a while, the thicket began to thin uncovering an imposing gothic fortress set into the mountain landscape.

Meike walked up to the barbican and let out a disappointed sigh. The heavy portcullis was all the way down. So much for getting inside. 

She circled the building to at least have a look at it from each side. 

In the back, wild ivy covered a part of the curtain wall, falling in green cascades almost to the ground. She stroked the wet leaves, brushing her fingers against the rough stone underneath and suddenly touched rusty metal. Taking a step backward, she carefully moved the ivy aside and hidden underneath the lush vegetation, she discovered a small iron door. Not without effort, she managed to push it open and slid to the other side.

In front of her stretched a graveyard. Strolling between rows of dilapidated tombstones, some of them with their lid oddly askew, she came to an ornate iron gate guarded by a couple of winged gargoyles. Behind it, a section of the castle was in ruins. Reaching the collapsed area she climbed up the rubble and jumped inside.

She ended up in a long hall with two rows of tall columns supporting a vaulted ceiling. To her right, she noticed a carved wooden structure which reminded her of a pulpit. On the far left there was a massive paneled door below a gothic rose window that let in a few last rays of the sun, casting a glowing pattern on the stone floor.

Meike checked her phone. Almost 7 p.m. She wasn't aware it was so late already. Within a couple of hours, it was going to be completely dark. She would better return to the village.

She was just about to get going when she once again felt that skin-prickling sensation of being watched. She spun around and her heart made a jump when her eyes caught on a dark shape that wasn’t there before.

Withdrawn deep into the shadow, there stood a man with a pale face and dark hair falling in long strands over his shoulders. "Guten Abend." he greeted, coming forward. "Please, do not be afraid."

"Who are you?"

"I am Graf von Krolock. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Frau Eckstein."

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**\- CHAPTER 2 - DINNER WITH A VAMPIRE -**

 

Meike stared bewildered at the man in front of her. She couldn’t quite believe she was facing actual nobility, especially when said nobility dressed like a metalhead. On the other hand, if this Krolock descended from a noble family of the past, that would technically make him a nobleman, even if his title had to be completely meaningless in modern democratic Romania.

“I had hoped you’d come by my castle,” he said barely opening his mouth, “albeit I expected you to show up at the front gate, as it would’ve been polite.”

Meike felt a shameful blush creep up her cheeks. “Please, excuse me,” she uttered, hoping the man wouldn’t sue her for trespassing. “I didn’t realize someone lived here. In the village, they speak of this place as if it were abandoned.”

“It had been for several years until the introduction of the law on restitution of illegally expropriated properties allowed me to obtain legal ownership of the grounds and move back in with the rest of my family.”

Meike nodded. Something similar had happened to the Bran Castle which had been seized by the communists at the end of World War II and then retroceded to the descendants of the Romanian Royal Family. The only difference was, Archduke Dominic and his sisters didn’t actually live there. The castle hosted a museum and a was a tourist site.

Krolock came closer, stopping at the very edge of the fading circle of sunlight. “Please,” he extended his hand in invitation, “let me show you around.”

Meike wavered, ogling the man’s long, dark nails, but eventually accepted his hand. He smiled and she saw he also had unusually long and sharp canines. At that moment, she understood why the locals buried themselves in garlic: they thought the inhabitant of the castle was a vampire!

Krolock must have guessed her thoughts. "Come now, I promise I won't bite.”

The joke finally broke the lingering tension. Meike laughed and taking the man by the arm, she let him walk her him towards the door. It opened to a paved courtyard from which an arched entryway led inside the keep. 

The main hall appeared rather austere. The walls were in white stucco, the floor in stone. A simple iron chandelier dangled from the ceiling on a long chain. It was equipped with electric light filling the space with a soft golden glow.

At the end of the hall, a grand staircase led to the higher levels. As they climbed up, Krolock began to tell Meike the history of the place and his family. The way he spoke of the past - as if he had witnessed it in the first person - was oddly engaging and she found she enjoyed listening to him way more than any given tour guide.

After a brief visit to the watchtower, they headed back down. Taking a different route than before, they eventually came out in a long, vaulted hallway filled from top to bottom with old, darkened portraits. Men and women with waxy faces and beady eyes stared at Meike from the canvas, some of them bearing a vague resemblance to the castle host. She guessed they were his ancestors. One painting, in particular, caught her attention. It depicted a man and a woman in period clothing holding a fair-haired toddler. The date in the bottom left corner read 1603. Before she had a chance to ask Krolock about it though, they were brusquely interrupted.

"Herr Graf!” A busty blonde appeared in the door at the end of the hall. “The Szab-" she cut mid-word. "Excuse me. I didn't know you had company."

Krolock walked out to her. “It’s fine, Magda,” he said calmly. “What is the matter?”

"It's the Szabolcs, Exzellenz. They want to…" She glanced at Meike, then turned back to Krolock. "They want to go to the village."

The Graf cursed under his breath. “Magda, this is Frau Meike Eckstein. She is a guest of mine. Please, keep her company while I go take care of matters.”

“I should probably be going now,” Meike spoke up. “It’s getting late and you clearly have business to attend to. I wouldn’t want to be of bother.”

“Nonsense,” Krolock dismissed her. “I’m most glad to finally have guests. I was hoping you might want to stay for dinner.”

At the mention of dinner, Meike realized just how hungry she was. It had been hours since she'd last eaten and the perspective of another plate of scrambled eggs and garlic bread made her stomach revolt. Certainly, a noble would offer her something better than that.

“Well, if you insist, I suppose I could stay,” she surrendered.

Krolock brightened. “Excellent. If you’ll excuse me now.” He gave her a small bow and left.

 

*******

 

The castle graveyard was the site of a fierce dispute.

“I refuse to sit here and starve!” yelled a woman with slick black hair standing on top of a tomb she’d been sleeping in until not so long ago. She was Hungarian and her name was Eszter von Szabolcs.

Jan, once a Rhinelander Baron crawled out of his grave and smoothed his hair out. He looked a little more ruffled than usual and it soon became clear why. He hadn’t been sleeping alone that day.

Helene Hohenzollern appeared right behind him. Stretching her stiff limbs, she gruffed at Eszter, “The Graf will not be happy when he finds out you’ve gone rogue. Again.”

The Hungarian let out a snort. “Like I care about his opinion.”

“You should,” argued the Pole, Jakub Zawada, “since you eat from his table and rest in his family graveyard.”

“He promised to provide us with blood,” pointed out Zoltán von Szabolcs. “Since he failed to do it, we have no choice but to go get some ourselves.”

“Well said, brother,” Eszter applauded him. “Now, let’s go.”

Krolock chose this moment to make himself known. Standing in the gate, he growled,  “You two are not going anywhere!”

The last time he had taken an eye off of Eszter and Zoltán they gnawed at Chagal and what was worse, left him, moribund, at the edge of the woods. As a result, he was found and waking up as a vampire, he brought Abronsius and Alfred into their home. The rest was history.

The Szabolcs unwillingly turned back. Zoltán muttered to his sister, "Told you the loyal bitch would go and tell on us."

Krolock clenched his jaw but ultimately let the insult slip. He addressed all the vampires present. “When one by one you returned here looking for shelter, I have been generous enough to take you back in under a single condition. I thought I have been clear about it but some of you,” he glanced at the Hungarians, “apparently need a reminder. For as long as you stay in this castle, you are not to feed on your own. Above all, you are not to touch anyone from the village.”

He had worked hard to regain ownership of the property and make it a comfortable home for himself and the five people he’d come to consider as family. That comfort was greatly dependent on the complex relationship he maintained with the local peasants. He couldn't let anyone destroy it.

"We're so hungry," came a quiet female voice. Sitting on top of a tombstone, there was Anna. She looked a little tattered, clear sign that she was starting to lose her grip. “We haven’t had a single drop of blood in two weeks. Two whole weeks.”

"I know," he sighed; it wasn't as if he hadn't been starving too, “but Otto will soon have a fresh batch ready for delivery.”

"I'd just like to know what happened to the other one," Zawada murmured. "It can't have just vanished."

"In the meantime,” Krolock continued, “I have some good news. We're having a human guest for dinner tonight."

“So you lured in another sweaty truck driver,” scoffed Helene, crossing her arms on her chest. “I still haven’t gotten over the last one.”

Jan added, “He was truly disgusting.”

Krolock remembered the man that had visited them back in winter. He had gotten drunk, began making very rude advances on Magda and tried to steal their silverware. He had been downward pleased when Eszter and Zoltán had sunk their teeth into his wrists and neck.

“I think tonight’s guest will be more to your liking,” he said. “It’s a lovely young lady. All the way from Germany.”

The vampires perked up.

Krolock smiled. He needn’t worry about anyone going anywhere tonight.

 

*******

 

Magda let Meike into a spacious salon with whitewashed walls and a wooden floor covered by oriental rugs. To the right, an ornate door led to a higher space filled from top to bottom with books.

“Take your time looking around,” she said. “I’ll go ring the maid to bring us some tea.”

Meike wasn’t even listening, skimming curiously over the titles. She was a typical urban reader devouring mostly crime novels on the S-Bahn but was educated enough to appreciate a library of this size and variety. There seemed to be anything in there: philosophical tractates, scientific publications, novels, biographies, poetry. She grinned when on one of the shelves, she spotted a copy of the first edition of Bram Stoker’s _Dracula_. She should have imagined a man who went around dressed up as a vampire would have this classic of the genre in his collection. There were also some other books seemingly relative to the topic. She didn’t, however, recognize any of the titles. Pulling a random one out, she flipped through the pages. To her surprise, it wasn’t a novel, rather a sort of academic work. Closing the book, she checked the cover. It read: _Die Fledermaus,_ Professor K. Abronsius.

Magda popped back up. “The tea will be ready in a minute.”

Meike put the book back on the shelf. Next, there was also another volume by the same author entitled _Die Anatomie der Lebentoten._

The blonde vampire suggested they take a seat on the sofa in front of the fireplace. A moment later a young woman came in bringing a tray with tea, sugar and some biscuits. As she leaned down to set the tray on the table, Meike noticed a pattern of burn scars running along the right side of her face, neck, and shoulder.

She adressed Magda, “Dacă nu mai ai nevoie de altceva, mă duc să pregătesc cina.”

“Mulțumesc, Dora. Poți pleca,” the vampire replied.

The woman curtsied and left.

Magda grabbed at her teacup, gesturing at Meike to do the same. “Forgive me the Romanian,” she said, “but Dora doesn’t speak any German.”

Meike wasn’t too surprised. The maid had to be a girl from the village: poor and uneducated. She had, however, to be smart enough not to believe in certain nonsense, otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to work at the castle.

Magda was curious to know what Meike was doing in Transylvania so she told her about how she had apparently mixed up her busses in Brasov and instead of Hunedoara ended up in the middle of the Carpathians. She was wrapping up the story when a young man appeared in the door.

“Rumor says we’re having guests,” he said, walking into the room.

Magda introduced the newcomer, “Frau Eckstein, this is Herbert, Erbgraf von Krolock.”

Erbgraf. So he had to be Krolock’s son. He must have taken after his mother because he didn’t resemble the Graf in the slightest. He wasn’t quite as broad and his facial features were softer and fuller. Also, his hair, fixed into a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck, was a pale iridescent blonde.

“Herbert, this is Frau Meike Eckstein.”

The young man placed an icy kiss on top of her hand. "Enchanté."

"Moi aussi.”

"Oh! You speak French!"

"A tiny bit," Meike admitted. "I used to study it at school. Where did you learn it?"

"In France," Herbert replied as if it was most obvious. “I used to live there until I was eighteen years old.”

“I have only been to Paris once. I honestly found it quite disappointing.”

“It isn’t quite what it used to be.”

They continued the conversation, comparing their experience of Paris, then moved on to other places they had visited. It turned out the Krolocks traveled quite a lot but limited themselves to Central and Eastern Europe, with the exception of France and Germany.

When the clock on the mantelpiece struck the hour, they descended to dinner. The Graf was already waiting for them in front of the dining hall where the table had been set for at least a couple dozen people.

Taking Meike by the arm, Krolock went to take his place at the head of the table. Herbert sat directly to his right. Magda placed herself between him and a burly middle-aged man who introduced himself as Chagal. The first two seats to the left were already taken, one by a girl with dark reddish hair fixed into an elegant updo, the other by a boy with a mane of unruly chestnut locks. Meike was about to go take the next free seat but the vampire stopped her.

“Sarah, Alfred,” he addressed the two, “please move one place.”

The boy did as asked but the girl stayed in her seat, flashing the older vampire a disbelieving look.

“Sarah, please move one place,” the Graf repeated, this time more sternly. “As you will have noticed, we have a guest tonight and I wish for them to sit directly next to me.”

Chagal added, “Do as Herr Graf says.”

Sarah gritted her teeth but finally complied with the request.

On the other side of the table, Herbert was gloating. “You should’ve married my father when you had the chance,” he jeered, “then you’d always sit by his side.”

The girl kicked him in the shin under the table.

“Stop it, both of you!” the Graf hissed. He flashed Meike an apologizing smile. “Please, forgive them their lack of manners.”

The German waved it off. Sitting down, she thought about the Graefin. She clearly wasn’t there, since she had been asked to sit in the place which would have normally been reserved to her. She noticed Krolock didn’t wear a wedding band, which combined with his son’s earlier comment could mean one of two things: that he was either divorced or a widower.

Meanwhile, more people joined the table: men and women in ages ranging from late teens to the early fifties. While they looked very different, there were some features they all had in common: the pale skin, the claw-like nails, the pointed canines and extremely dilated pupils which made their eyes look like bottomless black pits. Soon Meike learned none of them actually lived in the castle. They only visited from time to time, usually staying in longer during the summer - when the days were long and the weather was sunny as someone had pointed out.

The maid came in bearing a couple of bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, some appetizers and a basket of bread. 

“Dora,” Krolock called for her attention, “poate că ați observat că avem un oaspete uman în seara asta. Te rog, pregătește-ți carnea așa cum ți-ai face pentru tine.”

Dora nodded and pouring everyone a glass of wine, she went back to the kitchen.

Meike tasted the wine and grabbed at some food. While the others ate and drank too, she noticed with certain curiosity that no one apart from her touched the bread.

After a while, the maid returned with the main course: salad with spinach and beans, baked potatoes and beef. Meike’s mouth watered only at the smell. When she finally dug into her steak, she felt as if she had never had anything so good. The meat was fresh and cooked to a perfect medium. The others, she noticed, liked it rare. In general, all the food served was low processed, with little if any addition of spices, and likely genuine. Curiously enough, it was all also rich in iron. There was no dessert but Dora offered everyone who wanted it a shot of homemade liquor.

Having a good time, the German didn't even notice the passing of time. Only when her phone buzzed with the battery going dead, did she check the clock and realized how late it actually was.

"Thank you for your hospitality and for the delicious meal," she told Krolock, "but it's really time for me to go."

The man pulled a disappointed face. "You want to leave us already?"

"Already? It's almost three in the morning!"

"Forgive me the negligence. We're all night owls and tend to forget that most people are already fast asleep at this time," Krolock amended himself. "I will have Dora prepare you a room right away.”

Meike objected, "Thank you, but I'd rather go back to the inn."

"You'd be far more comfortable here."

"I have all of my things there, and besides, I wouldn't want to miss Herr Hayman going to the city."

Krolock seemed to be pondering his options until he finally said, "I shall let you go, Frau Eckstein, but only if you promise to visit us again tomorrow night. I happen to be throwing a party and would be delighted if you came."

A party? In a castle? How cool was that?!

“I will gladly come.”

What better things did she have to do in this place until Wednesday or Thursday or whenever Hayman decided to take her to Vatra?

Krolock got up from his place. “Allow me to walk you outside”

They went out into the courtyard. The vampire pointed a remote towards a sensor built into the barbican and the portcullis went up. Apparently, the ancient mechanism had been craftily modernized.

“Aștepta.” Dora ran up towards them. “ Ne-am putea întoarce împreună în sat.”

Krolock nodded. “Bună idee.” He turned back to Meike. “My maid is going to walk back to the village with you. I hope you don’t mind.”

The German shook her head. “No, of course not.”

“It had been a pleasure, Frau Eckstein.” The vampire gave her a small bow. “I cannot wait to see you again tomorrow night.”

“Me too, “ Meike replied and followed after Dora.

They have been walking in silence for quite some time when she stopped the Romaian to a halt. She pointed to the woods and then to her ear.

Dora listened.

There was a rustle of leaves and a dark shape moved between the trees.

“There’s someone in there,” Meike whispered. She was certain she had seen a man disappear in the thicket.

Everything was still for a moment. Then the leaves moved again and a huge gray wolf came into the open.

Meike’s breath caught in her throat. In all her excitement over the castle, she hadn’t thought about the wolves.

Dora put a hand on her shoulder. “Nu-ți fie frică. Nu ne va ataca.”

Meike just made big eyes at her.

“Stai, o să traduc asta pentru tine.” The girl searched her bag and her pockets but couldn't find what she was looking for. She muttered, “La naiba. Probabil mi-am uitat telefonul la castel.”

Meike picked up a familiar word. She guessed, “Cellphone?  You left your cellphone at the castle?”

The girl nodded. She didn't speak German but apparently, she was able to understand some of it. She must have picked up a few words from the Krolocks.

“Trebuie să mă întorc să o iau.” She made a couple of steps back. “Mergeți înainte. “ She pointed forward. “Nu este departe de sat de aici.”

Meike looked at Dora in panic, then at the wolf, then back at Dora.

“Nu vă fie teamă de lup,” the girl said calmly. “Nu te va ataca.” She pointed in the direction they came from. “Știe că vii de la castel.” She then approached the animal in spite of Meike’s protests and petted it on it's furry back as if it were just a large dog. “Mergi inainte,” she waved at Meike to go forward. “Ne vedem mâine seară.”

Left without a choice, the German resumed on her way. The wolf followed her from a distance till the edge of the woods. There it stopped and watched her for a while before disappearing in the morning mist.

 

*******

 

When Krolock came back inside he found a group of vampires gathered in the entrance hall. They had to have been sneak peaking on him saying his goodbyes to Meike.

“What was that?” Eszter leashed out on him no sooner he crossed the threshold. “Why did you let her go?

He waved her off. "She'll be back tomorrow night." 

The other vampires were more curious than angry about his decision to postpone their meal.

Jan came forward. “What are you up to? What is this story about a party?”

Krolock grinned. "I thought that, since we've been unexpectedly graced with such an appetible guest, we could bring an old tradition back." Truly, it would've been such a waste to just suck her dry on the spot, without having some fun first.

Hebert's eyes lit up. He exclaimed, "We're having a Midnight Ball!"

The other vampires exchanged confused glances.

“Midnight Ball?” Helene muttered. “At the beginning of summer? As far as I remember we traditionally threw them on the night of the winter solstice.”

“We did,” Krolock admitted, “but I’m afraid our dear Eszter wouldn't be able to hold her fangs for so long.”

The vampires laughed. Eszter just pouted and taking her brother by the arm, she stormed outside. Krolock didn’t care to stop her. The sun was about to rise soon so there was little chance she would go anywhere but her own grave.

“A Midnight Ball! I can’t believe we’re having a Midnight Ball!” Hebert cheered, dancing around the room. “It’s going to be fantastic, just like in the old times! We’re going to have drinks and music and costumes…” He stopped to a halt. “Oh no! We need to find that girl a dress! Magda!” He ran upstairs. “Magda, I need your help!!!”

Krolock turned towards the remaining vampires. "Prepare, brethren! Tomorrow we feast!”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**\- CHAPTER 3 - MUSICAL THEORY -**

 

Returning home close to morning, Meike woke up only in the early afternoon. Karl had written while she slept but only to tell her everything was fine, she needn't worry and might just as well enjoy the extra time off.

It was raining cats and dogs again so she discarded the idea of a walk and just went to hang out at the bar. Coming downstairs, she crossed Costache on his way out with some takeaway. Other than him there were only a couple of men sipping a beer in a corner and grandma Hayman muttering a prayer tucked in her usual spot by the fireplace.

Anton appeared at her table with some coffee. “I thought you had left,” he commented, pouring her a mug.

“No, I was just sleeping last night off, “ Meike said and took a cautious sip of the coffee. It tasted just as bad as she remembered.

The boy plopped on the chair beside her. “Why? What had you been doing?”

“I went for a walk and then the priest at the church told me there was this old castle up in the woods...”

The second she mentioned the castle the two men in the corner turned their heads and the old woman perked up her ears.

Anton looked at her with horror. "Please, tell me you didn't actually go there."

"Of course I went there."

"Stupid goose," grandma Hayman grunted under her breath.

Meike ignored it. "I was just taking a look around,” she continued, “when suddenly this odd man appeared out of nowhere. He told me it was his castle and offered to show me around. He then asked me to stay for dinner. I was hungry so I did. There were a couple of dozen other people-”

"They're not people, Meike!" Anton cried, grabbing her by the arms. "They're vampires!"

Meike flashed him a condescending look. "They're not vampires."

"Come on! You saw them! They’re pale as cadavers and they have fangs and claws!"

“It’s just a disguise.”

“It’s not a disguise!”

“Yes, it is and I can prove it to you.” Meike got up from her chair and motioned for the boy to do the same. “This might take some time. Go ask your sister if she can manage the bar alone for a while.”

Anton nodded and went to the kitchen to set things up with Zhenia. When he came back, they climbed to the attic.

"The guy who lives in your castle had introduced himself as Graf von Krolock," Meike began, letting the boy into her room. "The name rang a bell so I googled it this morning and it turns out it's a character in a musical called _Tanz der Vampire_. You may have never heard about it here but it's pretty popular back in my country."

Anton appeared unimpressed. “Vlad Dracula also shares a name with a fictional character,” he noted. “I don’t see how this proves anything.”

“There’s more to it than just the name,” Meike said with a mysterious smile, “but in order to prove you my point, I must first show you the musical. I reckon there was a decent quality recording of it somewhere on YouTube.” She went to get her tablet and looked up for the right video. Once she found it, she got herself comfortable next to Anton and hit play.

She soon regretted she didn't go see the show at the theater when it had been running in Berlin a couple of years earlier. She had suggested it to Karl but he wasn't to keen on going. As a result, they postponed it over and over again until the show had ended its run.

As they got to the scene in which Chagal welcomes Alfred and Abronsius in the inn, Anton pointed at the innkeeper and said, “I have once seen a vampire who kind of looked like that. He even dressed in similar fashion.”

“I met him last night,” Meike said, “and you know what, his name was also Chagal, or so he said.”

“What an odd coincidence.”

“That’s because it’s not a coincidence.”

Anton flashed Meike a questioning look.

“I’ll explain later.” The German pointed to the screen. “Just keep on watching.”

They enjoyed the rest of the musical in silence. Once it was over, Meike put the tablet down and turned to Anton.

“The people who live at the castle are not real vampires. They are only posing as vampires, more specifically the vampires from this show. Names, looks, behavior, it all adds up: we have a mysterious Graf von Krolock, a young and beautiful Sarah, a shy Alfred, an overly outgoing Herbert, a cheeky Magda, and a bossy Chagal.”

Anton wasn't convinced. “Assuming you’re right, why would these people play vampires? They’re grown-ups! Shouldn’t they have better things to do? Like… work?”

"This is their work."

The boy raised a skeptical brow.

Meike, however, was confident about her theory. "Imagine you acquired an old castle,” she began. “You’d probably want to open it to the public and make some money out of it. Yet this is Transylvania we’re talking about. There are other castles which are way better known and not so remote. You’d have to come up with something really unique to attract visitors.”

“Vampires? Seriously?”

“Yes, but not just any vampires! The project must have been specifically targeted at _Tanz der Vampire_ fans and you know what, I think it worked! At the dinner, there were some people who don’t live at the castle: guests from Austria, Germany, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, and Hungary - all countries where _Tanz_ had been staged at least once. They were all posing as random graveyard vampires, featuring original names and backstories, so I’m guessing participation in the experience requires that you choose your alter ego with the exception of all of the main characters which are reserved to the staff.”

Anton shook his head. He clearly had a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea that the whole thing being staged. “Why wouldn’t they tell us it was all just an act?”

"The point of the entire setup is having people feel as if it was all for real," Meike explained. "If you guys knew the truth, you wouldn't be afraid, and that would have ruined the entire experience."

“To think about it, my father might actually be in on it,” the boy said pensively. “I have often seen him talking to the Graf in a low voice as if they were discussing some shady affairs. And whenever a vampire comes by, he immediately sends me and my sister away. He doesn’t want us to have even the slightest contact with them. There was this one time… It was winter. My father had gone to Vatra. My sister was sick in bed and my brother had rushed to check on his pregnant wife. I was managing the bar on my own when a vampire came in. He was one of the young ones, with fair hair and a really cute smile, even with those fangs…”

In Meike's head, a light bulb lit up. Now it was clear why Anton didn't want to marry Alina Gabor.

"He caught your eye, huh?”

The boy went as red as a tomato. "No, he didn’t!"

"Hey," Meike flashed him an encouraging look, "there's nothing wrong with this."

"Try telling that to my father. When he came back and discovered us talking he went out of his mind. He shooed the guy away and gave me a piece of his mind like he never had before. I mean, come on, we were just talking and we weren’t even alone!”

“I bet he just panicked the truth might come out.”

“You don’t know my father. He wasn’t just angry because it was a vampire but also because it was a boy. We never talked about this but he knows I’m different and is terribly afraid people will find out. That’s why he’s trying to set me up with Alina.”

Meike wasn’t sure whether she was more sad or angry about this. “You can't let your father decide your life for you. If you like that guy, you should tell him." She considered things for a moment and said, "Herr Graf is throwing a party tonight and I have been invited. You should come along."

"No way!"

"Your crush is going to be there." Even without the name, she had an idea on who that might be.

"I can't do this," the boy protested. "My father-"

"Your father doesn't have to know," Meike cut him off. "We'll go there after dark and come back before anyone even notices."

"I don't know. It sounds risky."

"Come on!"

Ultimately, Anton let himself be convinced. Getting ready first, Meike waited for him to finish work, get showered and dressed. Then they carefully tiptoed back downstairs and when old Hayman was distracted by some customers they sneaked out of the inn and ran through the drizzle towards the woods.

 

*******

 

The first Midnight Ball had taken place in the early 19th century. It had been Herbert who suggested it as a way to move the atmosphere and create an incentive for the graveyard vampires to abstain from attacking random people in the woods and attracting unnecessary attention to the castle. On the longest night of the year, they would all gather up in the castle to celebrate and feast upon a human that had been carefully prepared for the occasion. That last one included dressing them up with something red as a symbol of the blood running hot through their veins.

Herbert doubted the German would come wearing a red dress. Thankfully they had one in the wardrobe. It belonged to Adéle de St. Marin, one of his father’s past flings, who never wore it because it was a bit tight for her, especially in the chest area. Their guest, however, should fit into it just fine.

He was taking the dress out to be ironed when a hand reached out and snatched it away.

“Hey!” he huffed at Sarah. "You can't wear this tonight!"

The redhead just cocked her head. "Red is my color! I always wear it to the ball!"

"Technically, you only did once," said Jean-Baptiste, a member of Adéle's entourage fallen victim of her first blood lust. Herbert always thought he wasn't so bad for an 18th-century fop. A little empty-headed but all in all a fun guy to have around. Cute too.

Magda emerged from the closet. "I found some matching shoes.”

Sarah seized the opportunity of the distraction to get a hold of the dress and run away with it.

"Give it back!" Herbert yelled at her chasing her across the room.

Suddenly the door opened almost hitting the girl in the face.

Herbert caught up with her. "Give it to me!" He yanked the dress out of her hands.

Sarah just gritted her teeth and stormed out, pushing her way by a very confused Chagal and an even more confused Meike. Just as Herbert had imagined, the German wore a pair of distressed jeans, paired up with a dark blouse, ankle boots, and a clear-plastic raincoat.

"What's up with her?" she asked, following Sarah with her eyes.

"She's just being the usual brat," Herbert replied.

"Come." Magda dragged her inside. "We have to get you ready."

"I am ready. I only need to drop the coat."

Herbert snorted. “You wouldn’t think I’d let you attend a ball dressed like that. I have a gown for you to wear.”

“I only need to iron it,” Magda added. “In the meantime, Jean-Baptiste can do your hair and makeup."

"Why? What's wrong with my hair and makeup?"

Herbert gave the German a critical eye. She had her hair down and wore only some foundation, mascara and gloss. The effortless look was good on her but it wasn’t suitable for a ball.

“I want your hair up with some looser curls around your face, some dramatic eyeliner, and a bold lip.”

Jean-Baptiste sat Meike in front of the mirror. “Let’s get to work.”

"Exzellenz," Chagal pulled the Erbgraf to the side. "What should I do with the boy?"

Herbert made big eyes at him. "What boy?"

"The woman didn't come alone, Exzellenz. She brought one of Hayman's sons with her."

"Which one?" As far as Herbert knew the innkeeper had two. One was kindness made flesh and the other walking danger.

"The younger one, Anton."

Thank Lucifer!

"I told him to wait in the entrance hall."

Herbert excused himself and rushed downstairs. He hoped nobody had discovered the boy yet. If any of those bloodthirsty savages sucked him dry, it would've been such a waste.

 

*******

 

Left alone in the hall, Anton looked curiously around. He had always imagined the castle as a decadent ruin. The greater was his surprise to find it completely renovated. There even was electrical light.

The main door opened with a creak and a man and a woman came inside. They both had the same slick, black hair and sharp, aquiline features. Seeing Anton, they stopped and exchanged a puzzled look.

The woman asked, “Who are you and what are you doing here?

Anton smiled nervously. “I-I’m Anton Hayman,” he stuttered. “I came in with Meike.”

“Eszter von Szabolcs,” the woman introduced herself, “and he,” she gestured towards the man, “is my brother, Zoltán.”

“I-It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The two laughed.

“What a polite young man,” Zoltán commented. “Tell me, Anton, does your father know you’re here?"

“Old Hayman would’ve never let him come anywhere near us,” Eszter said before Anton could even open his mouth. “He must have sneaked out without him knowing.”

Zoltán circled him like a bird of prey. "Just look at him, sister," he whistled, tracing a cold finger across his cheek. "So young and full of life. So very... apettible."

They were not vampires. They were not real vampires, Anton repeated in his head like a mantra but it didn’t help matters. These two still gave him the creeps.

Without warning, they both launched on him, aiming at his pulse points.

"Let him go!"

A blond man wrapped in shimmering pastels underneath a billowing black cape ran down the stairs at the end of the hall.  

"Herbert!" Anton cried out, trying to wriggle himself out of the siblings’ grip.

The blond repeated, "Let. Him. Go."

Zoltán sent him a defiant glare. "Who do you think you are to order us around?"

"I am the Erbgraf of this household."

Eszter just let out a snort and keeping her eyes on the younger vampire she slowly pressed her fangs into the tender flesh of Anton’s neck. Herbert hissed at her like a wildcat. She recoiled but didn't fully release her grip.

"What in Lucifer's name is going on here?!" The Graf entered the hall, followed by a very concerned looking Chagal. “Eszter! Hands off the boy!”

The woman scowled and threw Anton onto the floor. He fell on all fours, gasping for air. Herbert's clawed hand appeared in his field of vision. Regaining some composure, he took it and let himself be pulled back on his feet.

"Off you go!" the Graf growled at Eszter and Zoltán.

Spitting curses left and right, the two scurried deeper inside the castle.

"Thank you, Exzellenz," Anton mumbled, massaging his neck. Those Szabolcs took this vampire masquerade way too seriously. He would've sworn they'd really meant to bite him.

The Graf gave him a cold glare. "You shouldn't be here."

"You're right, Exzellenz. The invitation was only for Meike. I don't know what I was thinking, coming here with her. I'll just go home now."

He moved to leave but Herbert wrapped an arm around his shoulders, holding him back. "Wait," he said. "I'm sure father didn't mean it like that." He gave the older vampire an expectant look.

The Graf only pursed his lips.

"Seine Exzellenz should let him stay," Chagal weighed in. "He'll take over after his father one day so it's only right that he learns a thing or two beforehand."

The Graf gave up. "Herbert," he addressed his son, "keep our young guest company through the evening, and you, Chagal," he turned to the Jew, "keep an eye on the Szabolcs. There'd better be no accidents."

"There won't be any, Exzellenz."

Herbert was over the moon. "Come." He grabbed Anton by the hand. "We need to find you something pretty to wear to the ball. Perhaps something of Alfred's will fit you."

They climbed countless stairs and passed by a couple of corridors until, finally, they stopped in front of an ordinary wooden door.

Herbert gave it a knock. "Alfred?" he called. "Can I come in?"

The door opened just an inch and one black eye peeked out. "What do you want?"

"I need to borrow some clothes for my date for the ball."

"You have a date for the ball?"

"What? Are you jealous?"

"Why should I be jealous of you, Herbert?" Alfred sighed tiredly. "I never liked you like that." He pushed the door fully open and his eyes fell on Anton who mumbled some awkward greeting. He turned back to Herbert with a reproachful expression. "Does your father know about this?"

"He does,” Herbert declared, pushing his way past the other vampire.

Anton followed after him, sneaking a glance at Alfred still standing in the doorway and looking suspicious. His room was twice as large as the largest bedroom at the inn. It was furnished with a double bed, a writing desk and a wardrobe. In the corner by the window, there was also a comfortable armchair which was currently occupied by a girl with porcelain skin and luscious dark hair adorned by an unusual headpiece resembling a tiara.

"This is Sarah," Alfred introduced her, albeit needlessly. Anton had already guessed who she was.

"Hi," Sarah gave him a curt greeting. She seemed to be in the foulest of moods and judging by the spiteful glances she threw at Herbert, it had something to do with him.

Meanwhile, the blond had opened the wardrobe and got busy picking up pieces of clothing and throwing them on the bed. "Alfred," he called, "where is that dark red jacket of yours? You know, the one you said that was too small? Ah! Nevermind! I found it!” He added it to the growing pile of clothes. Closing the wardrobe with a graceful kick, he scooped everything into his arms and set for the door with a cheerful, "Merci beaucoup! See you at the ball!"

“Yeah, see you later,” Anton added on his part. Alfred replied in a similar fashion but Sarah only flashed him a glare that successfully coaxed him into leaving without as much as another word. He couldn’t quite put his hand to it but there was something about her, a kind of stubborn superiority that reminded him of his father.

Herbert took him to a sort of dressing room. There was a large chest of drawers, a dressing table bearing signs of recent use, and in the corner, there stood a full-body mirror. The blond reflected in it as crisp and clear as anything else.

He handed Anton the clothes he’d borrowed from Alfred. “Come on, try them on.”

“Here?” the boy mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

“You can go in there if you’re shy.” Herbert pointed to a semi-folded screen in a far corner. “I promise not to sneak peek.”

Hiding behind the screen, Anton checked out the pieces the blond had picked up from him. The faux-leather pants felt strange and they were a tad long, the shirt and vest were one size too large, but the fancy damask jacket was nice and it fit like a glove. In the end, that was the only things he decided to keep.

“Come on,” Herbert rushed him when he was done dressing up. “We’re running late.”

They headed downstairs. At one point, the vampire asked, “How did you know my name?”

Anton snapped out of his thoughts which revolved mostly around possible ways of addressing his crush without sounding like a fool. “What?”

“My name,” Herbert repeated. “Earlier in the hall you called me by my name but I don’t recall ever telling you what it was. How did you know it?”

“ _Tanz der Vampire_.”

“Ah, that thing.”

Anton nodded. “Meike told me about it.”

“I’ve been to see it on stage with dad and Magda,” Herbert said. “It was kind of funny because people noticed we look just like the characters and were very confused about it. They were gushing over our outfits and asking to take pictures.”

Anton grinned. The German had been right! The von Krolocks, or whoever they really were went to see _Tanz_ , got mistaken for the characters and saw that as an opportunity to make business! He had been such an idiot to think there existed real vampires!

 

*******

Magda and Jean-Baptiste led Meike in front of an ornate door and put her to wait. A few moments later, somewhere in the castle, a clock began to strike the hour. She counted: one, two, three… At twelve Magda and Jean-Baptiste pushed the door open, showing her into a painted hall where a small crowd of vampires was already waiting, sinister and silent. The hungry gaze of their bottomless eyes made her feel like a prize on display as she stood there in her magnificent red gown that, falling all the way to the floor, left the better part of her upper body blatantly exposed.

She finally made a tentative step forward and the crowd parted, letting her pass. In the middle of the hall, the Graf was already waiting for her. As she approached, he stretched out a hand in silent invitation.

She hesitated. In the show, this was the moment where the vampire delivered his bite. Then again, this was just a game of pretending. He wouldn't bite her for real. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and gave him her hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**\- CHAPTER 4 - THE BEST RAVE IN TRANSYLVANIA -**

 

The bite never came.

Meike felt almost disappointed when Krolock stroked his cold fingers along her neck all the way down to her décolleté and then just spun her on her heel. Then it hit her: this wasn’t a theater performance where the ball had to be fit within a few-minute frame; here it would likely last until dawn. Plenty of time to spare before the final act. A little foreplay was only due.

It had been a while since she’d been to a party - the office integration parties didn’t count - but she took no time getting carried on by the deep electronic sound.

Dancing, she scanned the room, looking for Anton. Eventually, she spotted him having fun with Herbert, Sarah, and Alfred and let out a relieved breath. She’d been a bit worried about him but it looked like he’d ended up in the right company.

Magda popped up bearing two glasses full of a textured red liquid. She handed one to her and the other to Krolock.

Meike ogled her drink suspiciously. “What is this?”

“It’s not blood if that’s what you’re asking,” the vampire said with an amused smile.

She took a tentative sip. It was just a Bloody Mary.

The alcohol warmed her insides, the music engulfed her and she just gave in to the feeling. Krolock pulled her closer and she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her body into his. Locked in a sensual embrace, they swayed to the beat. She felt she shouldn’t dance like that with a complete stranger but she just couldn’t help herself. 

The Graf stuck with her for a couple more songs, then they did a swap. She got snatched by the handsome Rhinelander, Jan, while he moved on to a petite brunette woman she only knew as Anna Borbély.

A few songs and dance partners later she decided she needed a break. She was on her way to the lounging corner when she ran into Anton hanging with Alfred.

“Wow, Meike! You look amazing!” the boy exclaimed, checking out her dress and hair.

Alfred asked, “How do you like the ball, Frau Eckstein? Are you having fun?”

“A lot! How about you two?”

The vampire chuckled. “I’m doing a lot better than I did the last time.”

Anton didn’t say anything and Meike sensed something didn’t sit right.

She asked, “Alfred, can I just talk to my friend for a moment? In private?”

“Sure. I’ll just go get us something to drink.”

When the vampire left, she turned to Anton. “Is everything ok? How’s it going with the guy?”

The boy grimaced. “I don’t really know. He’s being nice and all but I think he actually likes somebody else.”

“Are you sure? He might be just trying to keep in character. In the show, Herbert likes Alfred, Alfred likes Sarah and Sarah... I’m not really sure whom she actually likes.” Saying that she glanced at the redhead dancing with Krolock. When the song ended the vampire leaned down to kiss her cheek and she snuggled into his chest with a contented smile.

In the meantime, Alfred returned with the booze. They clinked their glasses together and went back to dancing. Anton got stolen away by Herbert, Alfred went back to Sarah and she reunited with the Graf.

The party went on. She danced. She drank. She let loose like she hadn’t in a very long time. The Bloody Marys kicked in, making the world around her spin. The surrounding crowd of vampires blurred into an indistinct dark mass. Krolock’s cape closed around her like the wings of a bat. She sank into the softness of his embrace. She didn’t care if it was wrong anymore.

 

*******

 

Herbert poured the vodka happily into a couple of glasses. He was in an excellent mood.

He had thought they’d never have a Midnight Ball again - not after what happened the last time - but then his father announced he wanted to bring it back and it turned out to be the best one so far. The highlight of the evening had been the arrival of the young villager: for once a nice boy to have some fun with!

Magda came to the bar followed by Meike.

“Herbert!” The German threw herself at him. “I saw you with Anton earlier. It looked like you two had made friends.”

“Ah, yes, we did,” he admitted and flashed Magda a questioning look over Meike’s shoulder.

The blonde waved her hand in dismissal, mouthing silently, “She’s just had a couple cocktails too many.”

“I’ll tell you a secret,” the German breathed into his ear. “He has a total crush on you.”

“How do you know? Did he tell you that?”

Meike nodded. “He said this fair-haired vampire had come to the inn once,” she stroked one of his blond locks to make her point, “and it was love at first sight!”

Herbert considered the odds. He had crossed Anton when he had last been to the inn. Apparently, the boy had remained impressed with him. He would’ve never guessed, judging by how he acted around him, but perhaps he was just being shy.

“Herbert!” his father called him to the side. “You were supposed to take care of the little Hayman.”

“I am,” he huffed. “He just went to the bathroom.”

“Chagal saw him wander off. Alone. You’d better find him before somebody else does.”

His father had a point. Most of the vampires present knew not to leash on humans without asking first but one could never trust Eszter and Zoltán.

“Here, take these.” He handed his father the drinks. “Just don’t give any more to your new girlfriend. She’s drunk enough as it is.”

The older vampire flashed him a glare. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Shame,” he threw matter-of-factly, heading for the way out. “I was beginning to like her.”

 

*******

 

Anton wandered aimlessly the dark corridors, drowning in self-pity. He’d come to the castle, risking his father’s anger, just to find out his crush was actually into somebody else. Somebody with whom he, an uneducated peasant serving tables couldn’t possibly compete.

The sound of steps mixed with laughter echoed somewhere in the distance.

Anton broke into a run. Glancing anxiously over his shoulder, he didn’t see in time that the corridor hit an end and smashed full force into the wall. Yet instead of bouncing back, he fell through it and as he gathered himself up from the floor he realized he’d run into some kind of a tapestry that concealed a secret passage or perhaps just an unused shortcut.

The voices sounded much closer and he recognized who they belonged to. Sarah and Alfred. Sneak peeking from behind the tapestry, he saw them climb the stairs, stumbling constantly as they exchanged heated touches.

When Alfred held Sarah back and pulled her into a kiss, Anton decided he’d seen enough. As silent as a mouse, he withdrew down the secret passage, emerging in another corridor not very different from the one he'd just left.

There was a couple of wooden doors, one of them half-open. Sliding into what appeared to be a living room, Anton threw himself on the sofa and stared at the ceiling, listening to the rain battling on the paneled gothic windows. He was on the verge of falling asleep when a second door he hadn't even noticed was there creaked and a tall silhouette appeared in the entryway.

“There you are,” Herbert sighed, walking into the room. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” He plopped on the edge of the sofa. “Why did you leave? Did something happen?”

Anton sat up. “No, nothing. I just... I went looking for the bathroom and got lost,” he said the first lie that came to his mind. “We can go back now. Meike will be getting worried again.”

“She’s too drunk to worry about anything at this point.”

“In that case, I’d better take her home.” He didn’t really think his German friend was drunk enough to need assistance but he didn’t want to stay in the room alone with Herbert.

He made a move to get up but the vampire pulled him back down. A cold finger slid under his chin, forcing him to turn his head.

“I know what you came here for,” Hebert whispered, “and I will gladly give it to you, chéri.” Then, before Anton realized what was coming, the vampire’s cool lips closed on his.

Never before had a kiss felt so good. His pulse quickened, his eyelids fell shut and his lips parted on their own accord, letting Herbert’s pointy tongue in. One clawed hand rested at the small of his back, the other tangled in his hair as the vampire kissed a trail across his jaw, all the way down to his neck. A groan escaped his throat and then turned into a cry of pain when suddenly a pair of sharp teeth prickled his sensitive skin. His eyes snapped open and he beat desperately against Hebert’s shoulder but the vampire only tightened his grip. Carefully, he retracted his teeth and licked on the blood streaming down his neck. Then his mouth closed on the small wound and sucked hard.

The burning pain in Anton's neck subsided to a dull ache. His ears rang with the blood rush, his vision darkened and blissful numbness spread over his entire body. His head lolled back and his arms slid helplessly down his sides. He was convinced he was going to die but then his head cleared. Realization kicked in. He remembered where he was, with whom and what had just happened.

Without warning he shoved Herbert away and jumped on his feet, clasping his hand to his neck.

“You bit me!”

The vampire licked some blood off his lips. “I just couldn’t help myself,” he purred, sliding off the sofa.

Anton took a step back. “Stay away from me!”

“Oh, you can’t really mean that!" Herbert said with a pout. "We were just getting to the fun part!” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

The boy tried to run but the vampire got to him before he even managed to reach the door. He pinned him to the nearest wall and buried his face in the crook of his neck.

Wavering between pleasure and panic, Anton tried to keep lucid enough to figure out a way of the situation. He should’ve eaten that garlic stew before coming to the castle. No, he shouldn't have come to the castle at all! He shouldn't have trusted Meike! She was a foreigner! What did she know!

He had to think. What were vampires afraid of? Garlic. Silver. Crosses. Damn! He had none of these things on him! What else was there? Ah! Sun! Vampires couldn’t go out in the sun! Strong light hurt their eyes!

With renewed hope, he slid his phone out of his pocket and looking past Herbert’s arm, he searched for the torch app.

The vampire noticed he was up to something. “What are you-” he began to say but then a beam of light hit his eyes and he hissed in pain, burying his face his hands.

Anton burst out of the room and leaped towards a nearby staircase. A loud bang a moment later told him that in an attempt to follow after him, Herbert must have walked head forward into something heavy. He didn’t care to check whether that had stopped him. He had to find Meike and they had to get the hell out of there before those monsters sucked them both dry.

 

*******

 

The storm raging outside covered the world in gloom but as a vampire, Krolock could tell it had to be dawning. The ball was coming to an end. Time to sink his teeth in that beautiful neck. Blood ran faster in his veins just at the thought. It had been years, no, decades since he’d last enjoyed a good bite.

The others must have sensed what was coming and were circling around them like vultures, their faces twisted in hunger, their eyes wide, their teeth bared. He had promised them a feast and they were clearly tired of waiting.

Instinctively, he wrapped his arms tighter around the woman. He had never been keen on sharing.

Meike snuggled into his chest, sneaking her arms underneath his jacket. Her nails dug into his back so hard he could feel them even through his shirt. His gut tightened and he drew in a sharp breath. The woman shifted to look him in the face. Her hand moved to stroke his cheek and his lashes fluttered in unexpected pleasure before he quickly snapped himself out of it. He wasn’t letting himself be played. Not again.

Anna had been an accident. She just happened to be there when his transformation completed and he experienced the first blood lust. He had neither meant to kill her nor turn her. He had simply lost control.

The case of the daughter of a Lutheran pastor who had moved into the area was very different. He’d been a vampire for over a century and knew exactly what he was doing when he seduced and then drained her in her own bed. While she enjoyed the intimacy, she wasn’t too happy to have become a vampire. Needless to say, it was the end of their blooming romance.

He’d sworn to himself never to give in to feelings again. That said, when many years he found a half-frozen man standing by the castle gates, he just unceremoniously dabbed into his neck, never caring about his opinion. He didn’t expect the man, who really was a barely nineteen-year-old page left behind by one of the Napoleonic troops retreating to France after their defeat in Russia, to become the closest thing he was going to have to a companion.

The fair-haired page boy had awoken in him a hope he had long buried, a hope which eventually led to the mistake that was Sarah. Originally intended to be the main course at the annual Midnight Ball, she tempted him into turning her, only to find out she wanted to become a vampire not so much for him as for the sake of her own agenda. He didn't resent her for manipulating him - how could he when he wasn’t any better than that - and he’d eventually come to care about her like a daughter. The whole experience, however, had left its mark. It convinced him, once and for all, to abandon all thoughts of a relationship.

The German was nice but she was just a meaningless stranger. He had had some great time with her but it had to end there. Holding her at the waist with one arm, he tilted her head to the side. She stretched her neck obediently, parting her lips in anticipation. Her submission bemused him but he didn’t dwell on it too much. Closing his eyes, he bared his fangs and launched on her neck.

There was a sharp tug and his fangs snapped on empty air. He blinked in surprise and his eyeballs pulsed with pain as he was blinded by a flash of white light.

He heard Meike yell, “Are you crazy?! You hurt his eyes!”

“Shut up and run!” The other voice belonged to the village boy.

Chaos erupted. People scattered around, bumping into each other. Judging by the cries echoing in the crowd, many have also been blinded.

“Hold them!” he roared, pushing his way through the jumbled mass of limbs.

Somehow he managed to break out into the corridor and groped his way towards the entrance hall. His eyes still filled with tears but his vision slowly returned; underneath the dancing light spots, he could recognize vague shapes and colors. As he burst out into the courtyard, he immediately caught on the flash of red disappearing into the barbican. He ran after it, mindless of the rain soaking his hair and clothes, but by the time he had crossed the yard, it was already gone.

Supporting himself on the stone wall, he silently watched the two humans run away. At one point, Meike glanced over her shoulder and for a moment she looked as if she wanted to go back but then the boy pulled her by the arm and they sped towards the edge of the woods.

A group of vampires caught up with him.

Eszter pointed at the two escapees. “Get them!”

“No!” he yelled, pulling the portcullis down.

She snapped at him. “Have you lost your mind?! You can’t just let them go!”

“Stop telling me what I can or can’t do in own castle! Now go back to your business! All of you!”

Muttering curses under their breaths, the vampires shuffled away, heading to the graveyard.

Krolock went back inside the castle and leaned against the door. His eyes burned, his head pounded but at the same time, he felt strangely elated. Perhaps Eszter was right. He had finally lost his mind.

 

*******

 

Meike ran through the storm, trying to understand what had just happened. One second she was in Krolock’s arms and the next she was being dragged outside by Anton who seemed to be in a state of utter hysteria. He'd flashed Krolock in the eyes with a led lamp. It couldn't have done him any real harm but it must've been painful.

At the thought of the vampire, she looked back and saw him standing by the castle gates.

“Come on!” Anton barked, pulling her brusquely by the arm.

They entered the woods. The leafy canopy provided them with some protection against the storm but after a while, they ended up equally drenched.

“Anton, wait!” Meike cried, slouching onto the concrete. She was cold, the wet gown clung heavily to her body and her feet hurt as if she’d been walking on needles.

The boy looked nervously around. “We can’t stop now,” he huffed. “They could be following us.”

“Why are we even running away? What happened?”

He dropped to his knees before her and moved his collar away. “This is what happened!”

“Oh my God!” she gasped. On the left side of Anton’s neck, there were two puckered puncture wounds.

“You were wrong about them, Meike,” the younger boy spat. “They are vampires. Real freaking vampires and they bite too!”

The German immediately sobered up. “Human bite wounds can very easily lead to infection,” she said seriously. “You have to see a doctor as soon as possible.”

“Yeah! Doctor van Helsing!” Anton sneered. “It’s not a human bite. It’s a vampire bite. An antibiotic shot will hardly help here.”

“Oh stop it! Vampires don’t exist. They’re just a myth. Whoever did this,” she pointed to the bite marks, “was just an idiot with a biting kink.”

The rain had stopped and the first rays of sun peeked shyly through the dark clouds.

“It’s morning already,” Anton noted, looking up into the sky. “I don’t think they’d go after us in daylight.”

Meike just rolled her eyes. It would seem that, after he’d gotten bitten, there was no way of convincing the boy they weren’t dealing with real vampires.

“Let’s go.” She got up her feet. “We need to get back to the inn and care to that wound. It looks deep. It’s a miracle you didn’t bleed out.”

“I'm fine,” Anton said, getting up as well, “just terribly cold.”

“Don’t worry.” She patted his shoulder. “A warm bath and some sleep and you’re gonna be like new.”

They marched bravely on and slowed their pace a bit only when they reached the village. A dog growled at them as they passed but other than that there was no movement. It couldn’t be later than 5 am. People had to be sleeping still.

Arriving at the inn, Anton searched under the garlic garlands above the door for the spare key. He had to have left his in his jacket which probably lay discarded somewhere in the castle. Finding the key, he opened the door and they went inside. The old planks creaked under their feet despite their best efforts to be quiet and by the time they reached the second floor they were caught sneaking around.

“Where have you two been?” Grandma Hayman shuffled down the corridor eyeing them with suspicion.

Taken by surprise, Anton blurted out, “On a walk! We’ve been on a walk.”

“A walk? So early in the morning? In this weather?”

“Y-Yes.”

The older woman wasn’t buying it. Turning to Meike, she asked, “Where’d you get that dress?”

“I’d bought it in Bucharest. It was on sale,” the German lied quickly, wondering what excuse could Anton give for wearing the fancy damask jacket, but the old woman didn’t ask about it; dark from the wet, it must have escaped her notice.

Instead, she demanded, “Show me your teeth. Both of you.”

Exchanging nervous glances, Meike and Anton opened their mouths. The granny took an attentive look inside and seeing there was nothing unusual, she finally put her suspicions to rest. She retreated to her room and the two of them climbed to the attic. Thankfully they didn’t wake up anyone else.


	5. Chapter 5

 

**\- CHAPTER 5 - MORAL HANGOVER  -**

 

 

It turned out the night storm had downed a power line. When Meike got up in the early afternoon the power hadn’t returned yet and old Hayman announced he wasn’t going to move a foot out of the village until it did. Hopefully, the grid would get fixed by the next day but what if it didn’t? What if she got blocked there for a few more days?

She had to call Karl and update him on the situation. Her phone was dead just like her tablet. Thankfully, the inn had a landline she could use.

Dialing the number, she caught a glimpse of Anton shuffling between the tables in the dining hall. He was wearing a turtleneck to conceal the bite marks but it was more than obvious he wasn’t well. His pale skin had taken on a sickly hue, dark shadows appeared around his eyes and he seemed to be nauseous. When he suddenly burst out of the kitchen and ran upstairs despite his sister’s protests, she quickly cut her conversation with Karl and went after him.

“Anton?” she called, knocking on his door. “What happened? Are you ok?”

“No, I’m not ok!” came his angry answer. “Now leave me alone!”

Meike propped her forehead against the door. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have taken you to that castle with me.”

“No, I should’ve known better not to listen to your crazy theories about musicals and other shit,” the boy argued. “It is only my fault if I’m turning into a vampire.”

Meike sighed tiredly. “You’re not turning into a vampire.”

Anton opened the door and pulled her inside the room. He took something off the table and shoved it under her nose.

Meike examined the small, white object. “Is this… a tooth?”

The boy opened his mouth. One of his canines was missing but a new one was already breaking through the gum.

“So you still had a milk tooth,” she observed reasonably.

Anton shook his head. “This was a permanent tooth.”

Meike didn’t know how to reply to that. She supposed a person might shed a permanent tooth as a result of a health problem but they would never grow a new one in its place.

“Two more are feeling loose,” the boy added, sensing around his mouth with his tongue. “At this rate, by the end of the day, I’ll have lost them all and grown out a new set.”

“I’m sure there is a logical explanation for this.”

“I can't stand the noise downstairs.”

“It’s just the hangover.”

“Garlic smells ten times worse than usual.”

“It’s just your impression.”

“I have no heartbeat.”

The dead seriousness in which the boy said those words was more powerful than if he had yelled. Meike shut up and checked first, his wrist, and then, his neck but she couldn’t pick up even a trace of a pulse.

“Your theory about the musical made a lot of sense,” Anton sighed, plopping on the bed, “but the truth is: the Krolocks aren’t just pretending. They really are who they say they are.”

“It’s impossible! They’re just characters in a story!”

“The story could’ve been based on real events.”

“Real events?” Meike snorted. “Those presumed events would’ve taken place over a hundred years ago. How would people know about them and in such detail? It’s not as if they could have read about them in a book… “ she trailed off as a realization hit her. “A book!” she exclaimed, her thoughts racing. “The Professor must have written a book containing the results of his research in Transylvania!”

There was a long moment of silence before the German announced, “We need to get our hands on that book.”

“I doubt you’ll find it in bookstores.”

“I think Krolock might have a copy in his library,” Meike said, recalling an ominous volume entitled _Die Anatomie der Lebentoten._

Anton looked at her with horror. “You wouldn’t be thinking about going back to the castle!”

“I need answers and I can only find them in that book, “ she explained. “Besides, I have to get my things back.”

“If you go there, the vampires will suck you dry!”

She checked her watch. “There are still a few hours left until sundown. They will all be sound asleep at this time.”

Anton grabbed at the garlic braid hanging by the window and wrapped it around her neck. “At least take this with you.”

Meike just chuckled and went to change into the darkest and most comfortable clothes she had. She then peeled a few pieces of garlic and stuffed them into her pockets and borrowing from the boy his old school backpack, she set out on her mission.

It was a beautiful day, the first one since she had set foot in Transylvania. Sun shone brightly in the sky and a warm breeze brushed her cheeks like a gentle caress as she marched briskly across the woods. There wasn’t a soul around, save for one villager that had apparently decided to take advantage of the weather to go gather some mushrooms or berries.

The castle welcomed her with an eerie silence. The door to the main building was unlocked. It creaked terribly when she struggled to push it open but there was no one there to notice; the entire place looked deserted. Silent as a mouse, she climbed upstairs, hoping she’d somehow manage to orient herself in the labyrinth of uniform rooms and corridors and get what she came there for before sunset.

 

*******

 

When he was still human, Alfred had often had to sleep in less than comfortable conditions. It might have been the reason why, unlike other vampires, he was able to rest also above ground as long as it was quiet enough and the curtains were drawn. He had been sleeping soundly upstairs for the whole day when his nostrils caught on a familiar pungent smell.

He woke up in alarm. The presence of garlic in a vampire household could only mean trouble.

Sarah wasn’t in the bed with him; she had to have woken up and retreated to the underground first thing in the morning. Hopefully, she was going to be safe there.

There was the sound of steps and the distinct rustle of plastic. Getting on his feet, he peeked out into the corridor and frowned seeing a blond woman in a raincoat disappear behind the corner. Wasn’t that the German they were supposed to suck dry at the Midnight Ball? What was she doing sneaking around the castle? More importantly, why was she still alive and kicking? Just what had happened the other night?

Intrigued, the vampire quickly put some clothes on and followed the faint trail of garlic the woman had left in her passing. It led him to the library where he found her rummaging through the shelves. Hiding behind the sofa, he watched her pull out a book and put in in her backpack, then reach out for another one, knocking off a small volume placed loosely on top of the row. She picked it up but instead of putting it back in place, she just stared in bewilderment at the open pages.

Alfred shifted in his spot to have a better look but the old wood creaked under his feet and he had to dodge to avoid the German’s eyes looking around in alarm. Crawled under the sofa, he watched her pack the volume into her backpack and run out, covering his ears to block out the heavy beat of her racing heart. He was starving but he couldn’t bite her. If he did, she would turn into a vampire and the last thing they needed right now was another mouth to feed.

 

*******

 

  
When Meike came back to the inn, she found old Hayman sitting at one of the tables with a few other villagers and engaging in what appeared to be a heated argument and knew something terrible must have happened.

She noticed Costache hanging by the door. While not taking an active part in the discussion, he was listening on with keen interest.

“What are they talking about?” she asked him quietly.  

“Old Kovács found a dead body in the woods,” the man replied. “A young woman. She had brought this onto herself, if you ask me, going to serve at the castle.”

“Oh, God!” Meike gasped as the dots connected in her head. “Dora!”

Costache threw her a curious glance. “You knew her?”

“I only met her once,” she said, suddenly realizing the maid wasn’t there the other night. She must have been dead already.

“You have been to the castle.”

It wasn’t a question but Meike still nodded yes.

“You’d better stay away from that place,” the man said gravely, “or you might end up just like Dora.”

“What happened to her exactly?” Meike asked, fearing she already knew the answer.

“She had been bitten by a v-”

“Wolf.” Dumitru popped out of nowhere. He threw Costache a warning look, then turned back to Meike. “The poor woman had been bitten by a wolf. The beasts can be dangerous, especially when they’re hungry. It wouldn’t be the first time they jumped at somebody’s neck.”

Meike nodded in fake agreement. “I will be going now,” she excused herself and headed towards the stairs. Climbing up, she could hear Dumitru hiss at Costache, “Idiot.”

As she reached the second floor, Anton’s head peeked out into the corridor. He looked even paler and his hair was slick with sweat. “Meike, I was so worried,” he said, flashing his new pointed canines. “A girl had been found bitten-”

“Yes, I know,” Meike cut him down, “but I’m fine and I have the books. I also found this.” She took a run-down volume out of the backpack. “Alfred's journal from when he was traveling with Abronsius.”

“Let’s see what it says, “ Anton said, letting her into his room.

Meike expected the room to be submerged in darkness but the curtains were open. Taking her backpack off, she sat at the small desk by the window, opened the journal near the end and began to read, “ _Tuesday, December…_ 18th? 19th? I can’t tell. It’s smudged. Whatever. _December 1905._ _Taking a wagon headed from Bistitz to Vatra Dornei we reached the mountains and took shelter for the night in an inn run by an elderly Jewish couple: Yoine and Rebecca Chagal..."_

The journal further described everything that transpired during the evening until Abronsius and Alfred’s awkward walk-in on Sarah. The better part of one page was torn and the next one began with a fragment reporting the events that had taken place later during the night.

“Listen to this,” Meike called for Anton’s attention. “ _I felt watched and when I went to the window I saw a man standing in the square below but when I looked a second time, there wasn’t anyone there._ ” She put the journal down. “Something just like this had happened to me my first night here.”

Could this inn be the very inn from _Tanz der Vampire?_ The layout was different but that was easily explained with the fact the journal never described it in detail. Alfred only mentioned their room was upstairs and that there was also a bathroom. Not a word about the said bathroom being located in between two bedrooms, let alone being directly connected to both. 

"This inn is over a century old and it’s the only one in this area," Anton said, confirming Meike's suspicions. "My father says it has always belonged to our family but I wouldn’t be surprised if he were lying. He does it all the time.”

The German ignored that last comment and focused back on the journal. “ _A crippled man by the name of Koukol came to the inn today asking for a couple dozen of candles,"_ she read. _"People seemed to be afraid of him but they wouldn’t say why. Professor Abronsius thinks the hunchback might be at the service of the Graf.”_

After a pause which had to mean Alfred had been forced to quit his writing only to return to it later during the day, the entry continued on a different note. “ _I saw Sarah again. She’d come to take a bath. She said her father had locked her up last night and…”_ Meike stroked the ripped paper edge. “Looks like a page is missing here,” she noted and moved on to the next one.

“ _I had seen a man in the bathroom and now she is gone. Herr Chagal went after her, cursing at someone for stealing his child. We asked Madam Chagal whom he meant and where he’d gone to but she wouldn't tell us a thing, only kept on crying.”_

There was a pause again. Then the text followed with the finding of Chagal's dead body. With the ripped off pages and the lack of any actual time references, it was hard to tell whether it had happened during the same night or the following morning.

The next page finally contained a readable date. “ _Thursday, Dec 21st, 1905. Just as Professor Abronsius had predicted, Herr Chagal had risen from the dead and bit the maid. We followed him all the way to the castle because it turns out there is, in fact, a castle...”_

The entry appeared to be written on the day Abronsius and Alfred had spent in the castle because after a description of their encounter with the Graf, and later with his son, it continued with their exploration of the premises, the descent into the crypt and Alfred's run-in first, with Sarah, and then, with Herbert, ending with the words, “ _I don’t even dare to imagine what could have happened if Professor Abronsius wasn’t there to help me out._ ”

“Now it makes sense,” Anton muttered when Meike finished reading.

The German flashed him a questioning look.

“Herbert," he said. “He reflects in a mirror even though he clearly is a vampire.”

“In the past mirrors used to be lined with silver which was considered a pure metal that wouldn't interact with a creature of the night. That, and the lack of knowledge on how mirrors actually work created the belief that vampires didn’t have a reflection. In reality, it would be impossible for anyone, even a vampire, not to have one.”

“In fact, the journal doesn’t say anything of the kind.”

“Yeah. The bit about the mirror must have been added to the show as an homage to a popular trope. There probably was no mirror at all.”

“I bet there were no mirrors in the ballroom either.”

“Let’s find out.” Meike went back to reading. “ _Friday, Dec 22nd, 1905. We have escaped from the castle, taking Sarah with us and destroying the vampires. There were dozens of them resting in the castle graveyard. As night fell, we saw them rise from their graves before heading to the castle to attend to the ball. Then…”_

“Then what?”

“Then someone must have spilled coffee on the next page because it’s almost completely unreadable. I can only distinguish single words here and there, some names and the dates: 1617. 1730. 1813.”

“These dates were in the musical.”

“It looks like they weren’t random after all, ” Meike said and moved on to where the text was readable again.

“ _We have knocked a couple vampires out and putting their clothes on, we sneaked into the ball. Sarah walked in dressed in a sumptuous red gown, no doubt a gift from the Graf. She got bitten but didn't die and when later the vampires began to dance the Minuet, we mingled in and managed to snatch her away. We have almost reached the door when they found us out. I grabbed at a candle holder to protect us from them but it would’ve been for nothing had Professor Abronsius not come up with the idea to put two into the sign of the cross. The moment we did, there was the sound of a thunder, the castle began to crumble and we managed to escape.”_

She put the journal down. “It just ends here.”

“I was right,” Anton said. “There is no mention of mirrors.”

“Yeah. It just says they were found out. I wonder how…”

“Heartbeat. The vampires must have picked up their heartbeat.”

Meike got suddenly aware Anton would know these things because he was turning into a vampire, a real vampire, and it was all her fault. Hadn’t it been for her, he would’ve never come anywhere near that castle. She had gotten him into this mess and she had to get him out of it, even if it had to be the last thing she’d do in her life.

 

*******

 

Krolock entered the dining hall and took his usual seat at the top of the table, trying to ignore the discontented glances he got from some of the other vampires. They were clearly upset about what had happened the previous night but he had no intention of explaining himself out, especially because no one would probably get it anyways.

The smell of food hit his nose. He looked down at his plate and scowled at the meal consisting purely of vegetables and beans.

“No meat tonight?”

“We’ve run out of it,” Magda said. “Chagal went hunt something down but knowing him, he’s going to take the whole night.”

“Why would Chagal need to hunt and why are you serving dinner?” Krolock asked her, realizing she’d been the one to bring him his meal. “Where’s Dora?”

“She hasn’t come back yet, Exzellenz.”

Tuesday night was Dora’s night off but she always returned promptly the next evening bringing a fresh delivery of food, cleaning products and whatever other items were needed in the house. Her not coming back in time was a bit inconvenient, not to mention suspicious.

He checked his phone for any unread messages or missed calls but there weren’t any. Sure, he’d gotten Dora a phone mostly so they could communicate easily within the castle but he fully expected her to use it to inform him if she couldn’t come back in time for whatever reason.

“We tried to call her,” Magda told him, “but it turned out she’d left her phone in the kitchen.”

In that moment Krolock’s own phone rang. He picked it up in a haste, thinking it was Dora calling from a landline to tell him about some kind of emergency but it was actually Otto. He had the blood ready for delivery. Krolock thought about the previous batch getting lost somewhere on the way and replied he would come to pick this one up himself.

Half an hour later he was ready to go. Taking Albtraum out of the garage they had recovered from the old stables, he approached Sarah, Alfred, and Herbert that had come out into the courtyard to say their goodbyes.

“How long will you be gone?” Sarah asked, snuggling into his chest.

He stroked her hair gently. “I’ll be back tomorrow night.”

“Herr Graf,” Alfred called for his attention, “before you leave, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What is it? Did something happen?”

The boy bit his lip nervously. “The German was here during the day.”

“Wait, what?” Sarah looked between Krolock and Alfred in confusion. “That woman is still alive? Why is she still alive?”

“It’s a long story, Sternkind,” Krolock dismissed her. He turned his attention back to Alfred. “How do you know she was here? Did you see her?”

The boy nodded.

“She probably just came back to take the things she’d left behind when she ran away.”

“She also took a couple of books from the library and… my journal.”

“Your journal?” Sarah gasped. “How did she even know about your journal?"

"I don't think she did," Alfred said. They only living people that knew it even existed were the three men whom they had retrieved it from back in 1997 and they sure as hell wouldn’t go bragging about it. “She only found it because it fell off the shelf. She really came here looking for something else. Guess which books she had taken: _Die Fledermaus_ and _Die Anatomie der Lebentoten_.”

“She’s probably looking for a connection with _Tanz der Vampire_ ,” Herbert spoke up. “I know from Anton that she’s familiar with the show. Not a surprise considering she’s from Berlin.”

“Speaking of Anton,” Krolock cut in, “what happened between the two of you last night?”

“Nothing!” Herbert replied a little too hastily. “I went looking for him and when I found him he just… freaked out on me! He flashed me in the eyes with his phone and ran off!”

Alfred sneered, “I bet you forced himself on him against his will, just like you did on me back in the day.”

“I did nothing of the kind!”

Krolock clenched his jaw. He honestly hoped there wasn’t anything else to the story. He’d rather not get on a warpath with Hayman.

He exhaled deeply. “Time for me to go. The three of you,” he pointed between Herbert, Sarah, and Alfred, “keep an eye on things while I’m gone and… try to get along for once.”

The young ones nodded in agreement, then with one last wave of goodbye he pulled the portcullis up, mounted the bike and drove off.

The village was dark and silent like a tomb. Pulling down by the square, Krolock looked up at the inn, his thoughts going to Meike. A candle still burned in her window and in the faint orange glow he could see her silhouette move across the room before it disappeared somewhere deeper in the house. He got off the bike and crept around the building, scanning the windows in search of light. He eventually found it flickering in the bathroom and a tempting thought arose in his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**\- CHAPTER 6 - LATE NIGHT MAYHEM -**

 

The discovery of Alfred’s travel journal had shed some light on the origin of _Tanz der Vampire_ but many questions still remained. What exactly were vampires? Was it possible to protect yourself from them? Was it possible to recover after a bite? Why did some people turn while others just died? Meike hoped to find the answers to those and a few other questions in Abronsius’ books but got herself disappointed.

As suggested by the title, _Die Fledermaus_ was a book on bats. It analyzed in detail the behavior of these creatures in an attempt to prove some of them might actually be vampires but in the end, it still essentially remained a book on bats.

At least _Die Anatomie der Lebentoten_ was about actual vampires. Just as Meike had imagined, it reported the results of Abronsius’ research trip to Transylvania, confirming many popular beliefs about vampires like the dislike for garlic, sleeping during the day and lust for human blood. The only problem was with the argumentation which seemed to be heavily based on pure speculation or at best, personal interpretation of certain phenomena.

When Meike had finally finished going through both books, it was long past midnight. The whole house was fast asleep save for Zhenia who had taken some time cleaning up after the last customers and then boiling some bathing water on the kitchen stove since, without a power supply, the bathroom boiler didn’t work. She had left a couple bucketsful for Meike and while it had already cooled down it was still considerably warmer than the water from the pipes.  

Taking a quick bath, the German wrapped herself in a towel and went to the sink to finish up with her evening routine. She was basically done when she suddenly heard the clang of the skylight opening and turning around, she found herself face to face with Krolock.

A startled gasp escaped her throat. The vampire put a finger to his lips and stalked forward, cutting her away from the exit door. She backed away and wrenching of the garlic braid hanging by the mirror she shoved it into his face but he only wrinkled his nose and taking the garlic out of her hand, he tossed it over his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, running his hands up her bare arms. “Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“How should I be acting?” Meike retorted, trying to ignore the shivers traveling up her body and covering her skin in goosebumps. “You want to bite me!”

“Yes. Very,” Krolock admitted, turning her with her back to him. One of his hands clasped on her shoulder while the other moved her hair out of the way. His lips brushed the sensitive skin of her neck. “You didn’t seem to mind until now.”

“I didn’t know until now,” Meike cried softly just as Krolock’s mouth closed on her pulse point, his sharp fangs pressing, almost tenderly, into her flesh.

The vampire held back. “What do you mean you didn’t know?” He opened his mouth and raised his hands, flaunting his impressive fangs and claws. “My condition is kind of obvious.”

The German turned to face him. “I thought you were just, you know, pretending to be a vampire!”

Krolock’s face fell. “Now that explains a lot.”

A sudden knock to the door broke their exchange. Eugenia called out from the corridor,  “Frau Eckstein? Are you there? I thought I heard some voices.”

Meike locked eyes with Krolock. “Y-Yes, Zhenia, I’m here,” she replied slowly. “I was just… talking on the phone!”

“I thought your phone was dead.”

She facepalmed herself in her mind. “Errr… yes but… I remembered I had a power bank so I recharged it!”

“Oh, okay,” the girl bought the lie easily. “I’m going downstairs to make myself some warm milk with garlic, butter, and honey. Would you like a cup as well? It’s great protection against the cold and makes you sleep better.”

“Thank you. I’m fine.”

“Okay. Good night.”

“Good night.”

“Thank you for keeping it quiet,” Krolock said when the creaking of the old floorboards signaled him Eugenia had left. “I would rather no one knew I could easily get inside the house despite all the garlic.”

Meike laughed bitterly. “Screaming for help would’ve gotten me nowhere. The door is locked from the inside. By the time they found a second key - if such a key even exists - you would have bitten me ten times over.”

“I wouldn’t have. As much as I want to do it, I won’t until I have your explicit consent.”

“You didn’t seem to care about my consent when you tried it just a moment ago.”

“I thought I had your consent. I certainly did last night.”

“What about Dora? Did she give you consent to bite her?”

Krolock blinked in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, don't you act like you had nothing to do with that!” Meike sneered. She had no doubt Dora had been killed by a vampire. Certainly not a wolf.

The Graf grabbed her by the arms. “What happened to my maid?” he growled. “Where is she?”

“She’s dead! They found her in the woods today! Bitten!”

“It hadn’t been I!”

“Then it must have been one of the others!”

“No. None of us would ever touch Dora.”

“Why? Because she was disfigured?”

“Because she was anemic.”

This time Meike didn’t know how to counter. She had always thought vampires chose their victims simply on the base of their youth and beauty. She’d never considered there could be a more important criterium like the state of their health.

“One of the reasons we drink blood is to compensate for a severe iron deficiency,” Krolock explained. “When in need of a human servant, I have always looked up people with anemia for the simple reason their blood would be unsubstantial and by extension unappealing to us, allowing them to live and work at the castle without the risk of getting bitten. Dora’s scars have never mattered to me. They only served me as leverage to convince her to take on my offer since they were the reason why the poor girl couldn’t find any kind of employment and had no hopes for getting married well, if at all.”

“Then you’re saying that Dora was really killed by a wolf.”

The vampire shook his head. “No. The wolves that live in these woods know better than to lash out on an associate of mine.”

Meike remembered the wolf that had walked her back to the village. Now she understood why it didn’t even try to attack her. It knew she was coming back from the castle. That was probably what Dora had been trying to tell her all along.

“So it’s true that you can talk to them? The wolves, I mean?”

“I suppose you read that in one of the books you stole from my library?”

Meike dropped her eyes in embarrassment. “I only borrowed them.”

“These books are mostly full of unfounded nonsense,” Krolock sneered. “If you’re interested in vampires, there is only one scientist I know that has studied them seriously. A German Biologist and Doctor of Medicine. His name’s Otto Siegert.”

“I haven’t noticed anything of his in your collection.”

“He has never published any of his research results but you could talk to him in person. I was on my way to meet him. If you wish to come with me, I’m sure he’ll be happy to answer all of your questions.”

Meike considered her options. One one hand, it didn’t seem reasonable to go anywhere with a bloodthirsty vampire, on the other, this scientist he was talking about might know how to save Anton.

“Take me to this Doctor Siegert,” she finally said. She owed this to the boy and besides, Krolock needn't really take her anywhere to bite her, he could very well do it right there in that bathroom.

The vampire seemed genuinely glad she’d taken on his proposal. Grinning from ear to ear, he said, “Go put on something warm so you don’t freeze to death while we ride.”

Only then Meike noticed that he was wearing a black and white leather riding suit. “That was you,” she muttered. “The biker I saw on the first night. The one that had given me directions. That was you!”

“Yes, that was me,” Krolock said, rolling his eyes. “Now go get dressed. I’ll wait.”

Meike unlocked the door and making sure the corridor was empty she slipped into her room, leaving the vampire outside. Her hands shook when she searched her suitcase for something suitable to wear. A part of her was terrified. Another one rejoiced at the thought of a night motorbike ride.

 

*******

 

Propped against the wall, Krolock waited for Meike to get ready. He hadn’t planned on taking her with him. It had been an impromptu idea but he felt it was a good one.

He wanted that woman. Closing eyes he could recall the warmth of her skin, the smell of her hair, the errant beat of her heart and his insides burned with lust. He wanted her blood but he wanted her to give it willingly and above all, consciously. He wanted her to wake up dead cold in his arms with neither regret nor resentment. He wanted things to go differently this time but that could only be possible if she understood what he was and what he wanted her to become.

The sound of steps snapped the vampire out of his musings and opening his eyes, he saw Eugenia coming on top of the stairs, a burning candle in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. He made a tentative move towards the bathroom but it was too late. The girl had already noticed him.

Time stood still for a moment. Then Eugenia screamed, throwing at him the first thing she had to hand which was a mug full of honey, butter, and garlic milk. He dodged and the mug hit the wall, breaking in half. The contents spilled on the floor in a slick, smelling puddle.

Krolock flashed the girl a glare. He’d always disliked her for being physically almost as pretty as Sarah, she was just another credulous peasant girl with little to no personality. He’d only ever teased her to keep her father on edge.

Meike looked out of her room. She was only in her underwear, save for one leg tucked inside a pair of jeans. “Zhenia, hush!” she called out to the younger girl who wouldn’t stop screaming like mad. “You’re gonna wake everyone up!”

“Hurry up,” Krolock told her, shifting along the corridor. “I’ll be outside.”

A hysterical Eugenia was blocking his way back to the bathroom and he was fairly certain that if he tried to go through her she’d try to throw at him the burning candle. While she’d likely miss again, with all the grease from the spilled milk the wooden floor could catch fire, so instead he backed further away and climbing over the railing, he jumped on the stairs. It wasn’t a big drop - just about a couple of meters - but landing on the very edge of a step he lost his balance and tumbled down, sprawling himself like long on the hard floor.

There was the sound of an opening door followed by a startled gasp and gathering himself up, the vampire saw Anton staring at him with a mixture of fear and stupor. Anger shot through his veins as he remembered the previous night but then he noticed there was something off about the boy. Grabbing him by the arm, he pulled at his turtleneck and his fears were confirmed when on the left side of his neck, he found two healing puncture wounds.

“Who did this?!”

“H-Herbert.”

Krolock couldn’t believe his ears. He’d thought off all people, Herbert was the one he could actually rely on but he was forgetting just how thoughtless he could be when handsome young boys were concerned. He should have known better not to entrust him with one.

“You can’t stay here any longer,” he told Anton. If his estimates were correct he had little, if any, time left before the transformation completed. “Go to the castle. Tell Magda and Chagal what happened. They’ll take care of you until I get back.”

“Zhenia, stop crying,” Meike’s insistent whisper came from above. “The vampire won’t do you any harm.”

At the same time, the door at the far end of the corridor opened and a yawning Hayman came out into the corridor. “What the hell is all this noise?!” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “A man can’t sleep in pe-” he stopped to a halt when his eyes fell on Krolock. “Blastemat draculu! Tfu!”

The vampire let go of Anton and made off. The innkeeper went after him but reaching the stairs, he crashed into Meike coming down from the attic.

“Sorry, Herr Hayman,” the German shouted, following after Krolock.

Together they made their way through the dining hall and bursting outside, they sprung towards the motorbike parked across the square. Hayman only chased them to the door. Stopping on the doorstep, he bid them farewell with a litany of assorted curses and spitting over his shoulder, he went back inside.

Krolock put his helmet on and retrieving a second one from the trunk, he held it out to Meike.

“What the hell did you escape by the stairs?” the German asked, wrestling with the strap. “Couldn’t you just... turn back into a bat and fly out of the window?!”

“I can’t turn into a bat. That’s just another one of those silly things people believe.”

“Then how the hell did you get on the roof?”

Krolock laughed and pointed to an old oak growing by the inn. “I climbed a tree.”

Mounting the bike, he waited for the German to settle behind him and fired the engine. Albtraum greeted him back with a familiar roar. He rolled it onto the highway and hit the accelerator. As the machine lifted off, the moonlit mountain landscape became just a blur of green, gray and blue. Meike’s arms tightened around his waist. Her chest pressed into his back, soft and warm like a blanket. A tingling sensation spread throughout his body as blood run faster in his veins and in that moment, for the first time in a long time, he felt alive.

 

*******

 

Curled up on his doorstep, Anton watched half-consciously as the rest of his family lost their minds over Krolock’s intrusion into the house.

Woken by the noise, his grandma emerged from her room and assessing the situation, she began to pace up and down the corridor, muttering something about their family being cursed ever since one of their distant ancestors had wronged the old vampire.

Chasing Krolock away, his father came back upstairs, spitting curses left and right.

Eugenia ran down the stairs and threw herself into his arms. “The Graf was here, papa!” she bailed, her voice raspy from all the screaming. “He came to take me away just like you said he would!”

Hearing that, Anton couldn’t hold a snort.

His father sent him a glare. “Hush my dear,” he said to Zhenia, stroking her back soothingly.  “The Graf wasn’t here for you…”

Right. He’d come to get Meike.

“...and if he ever were, papa won’t let him take you away.”

The promise seemed to finally calm the girl down. Sniffing the tears up, she said sensibly, “I spilled some milk upstairs. I have to go clean it up.”

Hayman let go of her and turned to Anton, “What are you doing just standing there?” he barked. “Help your sister out!”

“W-What?” the boy mumbled, barely opening his mouth so his father wouldn’t notice his fangs.

“What is wrong with you today?! You’ve spent the better half of the day in bed…”

“I was sick.” The wounds on his neck had long closed and yet he was getting progressively weaker as if he'd kept on bleeding.

“...and now you act as if you had half a brain!”

“I wasn’t paying attention.” He’d been too busy wondering about what was going to happen to his friend. “I’m sorry.”

The innkeeper rolled his eyes. “Make yourself useful and go get a bucket and a cleaning mop! Now!”

Anton nodded and taking a candle from his room, he shuffled downstairs. Walking into the kitchen, he was overwhelmed by a mixture of smells - garlic, fat, overcooked vegetables, burning - and barely managed to keep himself from throwing up. Covering up his nose with his sleeve, he looked into the closet for the bucket and the mop. He eventually spotted them stashed in a corner and getting them out along with a couple of rolls of paper towel, he ran out of there.

Climbing back to the attic, he found his sister picking up porcelain shards from the broken mug. He crouched beside her and trying his best to ignore the smell, he began to mop up the floor.

They have been working in silence for a couple of minutes when suddenly Zhenia hissed in pain and looking up, Anton saw red on her hands. His pupils dilated and his nostrils flared as he picked up the characteristic metallic scent of blood. Once almost repulsive, it now lured him in and before he could think about what he was doing he seized his sister’s hand and brought it to his mouth.

Zhenia yelped and tried to pull her arm away but Anton wouldn’t let her. Holding tight at her wrist, he licked the blood streaming down her palm, growing stronger with every drop that entered his system.

“Let go of me!” his sister cried, struggling to free herself from his grip. “Papa! Papa, help!!!”

There was the sound of rushed steps and a moment later Hayman burst into the attic, making himself light with a portable led lamp they often used in times of power outage. “What the hell are you doing?!” he yelled at Anton, pulling him by the collar.

The boy fell back, losing his grip on his sister. He turned around to face the older man but as his eyes caught sight of the lamp his head erupted in pain. A primal hiss escaped his throat and he crawled against the wall, shielding his face away from the blaring light.

“So this is what you were sick with,” his father muttered under his breath, staring in disbelief at his bloodstained lips.

Grandma Hayman appeared on top of the stairs. “I knew that stupid goose would bring some misfortune upon us.”

“What are you talking about, mother?” the innkeeper gruffed, flashing her a questioning look.

“I caught Anton with that German early in the morning today,” the elderly woman crooked, pointing at the boy with accusation. “They were trying to sneak back into the house.”

“Are you saying…?”

“They must have both spent the night at the castle.”

Anton seized the opportunity of his father’s distraction to scurry into the bathroom. Turning the key in the lock, he slid to the floor and covered himself in tears.

He had attacked his own sister. The taste of her blood still lingered on his tongue like a reminder of what he had become.

His father banged at the bathroom door. “Anton, open up! I promise I mean you no harm!”

Somehow Anton doubted that. The man couldn’t accept a gay son. He certainly wouldn’t accept a vampire one. He would probably strap him to a chair and subject him to anything from exorcism to literal torture in futile attempts to cure him, possibly from both conditions.

Krolock had known it would have come to this from the moment he realized he’d been bitten. That was why he had told him to go to the castle. The thought of returning there filled him with dread but what other choice did he have? He couldn’t just stay locked in the bathroom forever!

The banging on the door had ceased. The floor creaked and looking through the keyhole Anton saw his father leave. It seemed strange that he would just give up like that and in fact, a few moments later he saw him climb back up. With a wood hatchet.

He jolted away from the door just in time before it shook under the first blow. After that one, there came more and soon enough the wood began to splinter.

The only other way out of the bathroom was through the roof. The mere thought gave Anton vertigo but he still clambered onto the edge of the bathtub and reaching the open skylight, he crawled outside. There was an old oak growing in their backyard and he saw that one of the larger branches reached all the way to the roof. He plodded towards it and was about halfway across when he heard his father yell his name behind his back. Snapping out of his focus, he lost his footing and slid down the slippery tiles onto the kitchen roof and from there to the ground.

“Oh no!” Hayman cried pulling his head back inside.

Anton gathered himself up, groaning in pain. He’d taken quite the fall but shockingly enough he didn’t seem to have broken any bones.

His father was going to be there in a matter of moments so without wasting any more time he scurried around the inn and hid behind the chimney. When he heard the slamming of the front door he only waited long enough for the man to get behind the corner and shot across the square towards the road leading to the woods. His father’s desperate cries echoed behind him and he was taken by a strange empty feeling at the realization that he might never see him again.

 

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

**\- CHAPTER 7 - ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS -**

 

“Magda, I have a problem,” Herbert whispered sneaking into the kitchen where his friend was cleaning up after dinner. “Remember that little villager from last night?”

“How could I forget him. He’d raised quite the havoc.”

“I may be a little at fault here. He freaked out after I bit him.”

Magda let go of her work and stared at Herbert in disbelief. “You did what now?!”

“I bit him,” the vampire repeated. “We were making out and it just felt right.”

“We must quickly bring him back to the castle,” Magda said, her tone dead serious. “He will have completed the transformation by now or is going to soon, and when that happens he’ll probably jump at the first person that crosses his way. This could easily lead to a new wave of vampire hysteria.”

“Magda has a point there.”

Turning around, Herbert saw Sarah enter the kitchen. Of all the people in the castle that could overhear them, it obviously had to be her!

“You really messed up this time, Herbert,” she jeered as she passed him by, heading for the cabinets. “The Graf is so going to kill you!”

Herbert sent her a glare but deep inside he knew she was right. He _had_ messed up and his father _was_ going to kill him.

“It was all just a misunderstanding,” he tried to defend himself. “I’ll go get Anton back here, we’ll clear up and everything’s gonna be fine.”

“No need to go anywhere, Exzellenz.” Chagal appeared in the door, an arm wrapped around a small, shaking figure.

“Anton!” Herbert exclaimed, leaping forward.

“Stay away from me,” the young villager hissed at him and backed behind Chagal.

“I found him when coming back from the woods,” the Jew said, taking off his shoulder a couple of hares slamming them on the table. “He seems under shock.”

“No wonder,” Sarah snorted. “Not knowing what to expect, he must have had a hard time turning. I know I did.”

“You only have yourself to blame for that,” Herbert reminded her and turned back to Anton. “What had gotten over you last night? We were hav-”

“What had gotten over me?!” the boy cut him down. “You bit me! That’s what!”

The vampire didn’t understand what the issue was. “You wanted it.”

“No, I didn’t!”

“You like me. You had come to the castle for me.”

“I had come here for Alfred!”

The kitchen fell silent for a moment. Then Sarah burst out into hysterical laughter.

The piercing sound pulled Herbert out of his stupor. “Alfred? You came here for Alfred?” he murmured. “Meike said...”

What did she really say? Only that Anton had fallen for a fair-haired vampire. She’d hinted it was him but it could’ve just as well been Alfred. His hair too, while considerably darker, still classified as fair.

Anton’s brought on an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. Meike must have misunderstood something.”

“Too bad for you,” Herbert replied coldly in a frantic attempt to save face. “You could’ve been my new boyfriend but since you don’t want to, feel free to go rot away in the graveyard, or better yet, in that stinky little village. I don’t care.”

Tossing his head up, he strode out of the kitchen, almost crashing in the door with none other than Alfred. The younger vampire called him down for not looking where he was going but he paid it no importance.

Coming out into the courtyard, he sat on the steps leading to the keep and tried to understand why was he even so upset about the entire situation. He didn’t really like that dirty peasant all that much and yet his words had cut him like a knife. It wasn’t so much about him, he finally decided, as much as the fact of being rejected in favor of someone else. Again.

There was the clicking of heels and a moment later Magda joined him. She said nothing, just sat there and waited for him to open up on his own as she usually did in situations like this.

“What is wrong with me, Magda?” he finally sighed. “Why does no one ever like me?”

“I like you,” Magda countered.

“You like me like a friend. That’s different.”

“It’s not that very different.”

“My father doesn't have this kind of issues. Women literally throw themselves at him.”

“All they want is some vampire dick. None of them cares about him as a person. This last one too...”

“I’m not so sure about her, you know,” Herbert cut in before his friend could give Meike a slating.

Magda rose a curious brow. “That is unusual coming from you. You’re always the first to disapprove of your father's flings.”

Herbert shrugged his shoulders. “She doesn’t seem quite like the other ones...” Herbert trailed off as his ears picked up a low growl. He exchanged a confounded glance with Magda. The wolves were common visitors at the castle but they never acted like that.

The two vampires walked to the barbican where the portcullis was still halfway up after the Graf’s earlier departure. At the end of the passage, three gray wolves blocked the entry, baring their teeth at some invisible threat.

“What is it, boy?” Herbert asked, crouching by the largest of the animals and following its gaze towards the edge of the woods. “What do you see in there?”

The wolf turned around, and putting his paws on the vampire’s shoulders, he tried to lick his year. Herbert laughed and stroked the animal’s furry back but his eyes scanned the dark wall of trees growing out of the mist that swirled over the ground announcing the close coming of dawn. An incomprehensible sense of danger grew in the pit of his stomach.

Giving the wolf one last stroke, he got on his feet. “Let’s go back inside,” he told Magda who just nodded and followed him back into the courtyard.

Together they lowered the portcullis all the way to the ground and retreated to the safety of the keep. The wolves remained in their spot keeping guard from something or someone only they knew.

 

***

 

As Alfred walked into the kitchen, Anton felt his cheeks turn hot. Too embarrassed to even look the vampire in the eye, he quickly averted his gaze to the floor, finding a sudden interest in the pattern of the stone below his feet.

“What is going on?” Alfred asked. “Why is Anton here?”

“Herbert bit him last night,” Sarah informed him promptly. “He thought-”

“Sarah,” her father barked at her. “Quit blabbing and get me a meat ax. I gotta butcher these rabbits.”

The redhead sent the man a glare but complied with his request.

“Have a seat, boy,” Chagal pushed Anton towards an empty chair. He then circled the table and pulling the two dead animals over, he proceeded to cut their legs and heads.

Anton had seen animals be butchered before but he still had a hard time watching. In order to distract himself from the carnage, he looked around the kitchen. The space was very large, with crude stone walls that transitioned into a high vaulted ceiling. To one side, there was a massive medieval stove where some embers were still smoldering, to the other a modern induction kitchen, a microwave, and a coffee machine.

“Drink this.”

Anton looked back to Chagal. The vampire was handing him a glass containing less than a finger of a sticky red liquid. Rabbit blood.

“Thanks, I’m good,” he refused.

Chagal, however, wouldn’t withdraw the glass. “You just turned. You must be ravenous.”

“Seriously, I’m good,” Anton repeated. “I already had some blood from my sister.”

Chagal, Alfred and Sarah exchanged worried looks.

It then dawned on Anton that by drinking from Zhenia he could have doomed her to his own fate.

“Is she also going to turn into a vampire now?” he asked, not quite ready to hear the answer.

Alfred offered him a sympathetic smile. “I’m afraid so. When you bit her, the pressure on the jaw caused a release of a small amount of a certain substance your body began to produce after you turned. The said substance - we call it venom for lack of a better word - was then injected into your sister’s bloodstream through hollow canals in your fangs. While she may not experience any visible symptoms yet, it has already triggered a series of chemical reactions in her body that will eventually lead to some physical changes. In other words, she’s turning as we speak.”

Anton’s head spun in panic. Then he realized something. “Wait,” he said, knitting his brows. “Zhenia would only turn if I bit her, right? Well, I didn’t!”

“You said you had her blood.”

“She’d cut her hand on a mug shard. I only licked some off her palm.”

The three older vampires all let out a relieved breath.

“In that case, she’ll be fine,” Alfred said, grabbing at the glass of rabbit blood. “Guess, you really don’t need this.”

Anton shook his head. “You can have it all.”

Alfred, however, only took a small sip and passed the glass on to Sarah who emptied it in one big gulp.

“Is this what you normally have? Animal blood?” Anton asked, as it suddenly occurred to him that up until now there had never been any suspicious deaths or disappearances in the neighborhood.

“Animal blood is a valid alternative in case of emergency but it can never fully substitute for human blood.”

“Why not? Isn’t it essentially the same thing?”

Alfred laughed. “Not really, no. Different species have different blood composition and structure. Only human blood has all the characteristics necessary to quench our thirst, if only for a while.”

“So, you’re saying you normally drink human blood?”

Sarah let out a snort. “Duh!”

“We are constantly provided with some by a family friend who runs a donation center; his girlfriend, who is a nurse, also sneaks some out of the hospital,” Alfred said before Anton could voice his next question. “Your dad also sends us someone to drain from time to time. Usually a truck driver or a hiker.”

The dots connected in Anton’s head. Now it was clear what his father had to talk about with the vampires. Perhaps by sending strangers to the castle, he earned immunity for himself and the rest of the family.

“Oh no,” he suddenly whispered as something occurred to him. “Meike. You guys want to drain her as well.”

“We did,” Alfred admitted, “but that’s probably out of the question now that the Graf had taken a liking to her.”

“Yeah,” Sarah added with a sour face. “It would seem he now wants to turn her.”

“You don’t seem to like the idea?” Anton observed with perverse satisfaction. “Jealous much?”

Sarah glanced nervously at Alfred. “No,” she drawled. “I just don’t think she’s worth all the fuss.”

“You are jealous!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Stop it, children,” Chagal put himself in between Sarah and Anton before they could jump to each other's throats.

“Come, Liebling,” Alfred took Sarah by the arms. “It’s almost dawn. We’d better head to the crypt.”

The two of them left, leaving Anton alone with Chagal. The Jew put the butchered rabbit parts away in the freezer and cleaning himself up, he headed for the door.

“Come on, boy,” he called to Anton. “We must find you a place to sleep during the day.”

Together they climbed upstairs, stopping only when they had reached the attic.

“Oh, so this is where I’m gonna be sleeping,” the boy said with evident disappointment, looking around the space.

“No, stupid,” the older vampire huffed at him. “We just came here to get you a blanket and a pillow.” He pointed to some bed pieces hanging from thick ropes extending between the wooden beams supporting the roof. “Come on, help me out.”

Once they pulled down the items needed, they headed back downstairs but instead of stopping by one of the guest rooms, they came out into the courtyard and proceeded towards a narrow passageway encased between the keep and a smaller, partially collapsed building Anton guessed might have once been the chapel. On the other side, a steep stone path led to a wrought-iron gate that opened to a small portion of green land enclosed within high stone walls. There, rising from the morning mist, was a number of simple stone tombs.

Chagal walked up to one and pushing the lid to the side with surprising ease, he showed Anton inside. “Our most comfortable grave!” he boasted. “You won’t find anything better in any graveyard!”

Anton peeked inside the tomb and shook his head. “I’m not getting in there.”

“When the Graf comes back, you can ask him for a place in the crypt but for now, you get to sleep in the graveyard with everybody else,” Chagal said, laying the blanket on top of a wooden board at the bottom of the tomb and throwing a pillow on top.

“No, you don’t get it,” Anton protested further. “I can’t sleep in a grave. I’m not dead.”

“No, just a vampire,” spoke an amused male voice and turning around Anton saw one of the resident vampires enter the graveyard.

“Good morning, Doctor Hasek,” Chagal greeted him. “I see you decided to retire early today.”

“I needed rest and you, young man,” Hasek addressed Anton, “look like you need some as well. To your misfortune, you can now only find it in the darkness and quiet of a grave.”

Anton finally gave up and taking his shoes off and placing them at the bottom of the den, he lay inside.

“Wait,” he cried when Chagal began to close him in. “Won’t I suffocate in here?”

The Jew only laughed.

“Your breathing rate is so slow you’re only using up a small fraction of the oxygen you’d use up if you were still human,” said Hasek. “You could lie in that grave for a week and still be fine...”

The sound of the older vampire’s voice faded into silence as the lid slid into its place, sealing Anton away from the waking world outside.

 

***

When Krolock had asked Meike to go with him, she hadn’t imagined they would be going quite so far. Leaving the village, they had been relentlessly speeding on for at least a couple of hours before the vampire finally pulled down by a gas station. Around, there was nothing but green fields stretching all the way to the horizon where they met the jagged line of the mountains.

“Krolock,” Meike murmured, her eyes fixed on the eastern sky, “it’s almost sunrise.”

“You worry about me,” the vampire teased and kept fueling up, not at all concerned by the impending coming of dawn. “That’s so sweet.”

“I don’t worry about _you_ ,” Meike spat back. “I worry about _myself_. If you burst into flames while we ride, I’ll die too and a horrible death at that.”

“Meike,” Krolock gave her a patronizing look, “you saw me walk in the sun before. If I hadn’t spontaneously combusted then, you can assume I won’t now either.”

The German was about to counter but then she realized the vampire was right. When they had first met, it hadn’t been completely dark yet. She supposed she hadn’t paid attention to it because back then she still thought she was dealing with a weirdo in a costume.

“This whole burning in the sun thing is just a movie industry invention,” Krolock continued conversationally. “The concept was first introduced in 1922 Nosferatu, if I’m not mistaken, although he didn’t exactly burn just… poofed into smoke. Anyway, in Stoker and other early gothic fiction that based on the lore, vampires could walk in the sun, and were only weakened by the light which, to be honest, is quite correct.”

“Your eyes,” Meike said, thinking of the vampire’s huge pupils she had first taken for a temporary effect of a drug but now suspected were a defining feature for his kind. “You can’t see in the light.”

The vampire nodded. “When you turn, your pupils dilate to the maximum and paralyze, losing the ability to dose the amount of light that enters the eye. It’s still dark enough but as the sun gets higher, I’ll be literally blind.”

“That’s really worrying considering you’re the one driving.”

“I have a custom-made helmet with a photochromatic visor. And in any case, we’ll get there before it gets too bright for my comfort.”

“Where are we even going?” Meike asked. She’d initially assumed it was Bistritz but they had long passed it, heading further West.

“Cluj-Napoca,” Krolock replied, checking his pockets for some cash to pay for the gas. “We’re now in Sub Coastă, not far from the airport.”

As if to confirm the vampire’s words, an engine roared somewhere in the distance and a moment later an airplane emerged from beyond a hill. Meike followed its flight with her eyes, a sense of frustration building in her chest. This could’ve been her chance to escape but in all the bustle she’d forgotten to take with her as much as an ID. Then Anton’s pale face appeared in her mind and she realized that even if she hadn’t made that mistake, she still couldn't’ just leave, not until she found a way to get him back to normal.

“Get on.” Krolock motioned his head at the bike. “We gotta get going.”

Meike put her helmet back on and climbed behind the vampire, who then rolled the bike back onto the road and they sped towards the city that lay asleep in the distance.

Soon the green fields gave way to suburban residential areas. Houses painted in shades of pink, yellow, peach and green appeared by the road, their number growing the closer they got to the city center. It was in front of one such unassuming two-story pastel house that Krolock eventually pulled up and leaving the bike parked in the driveway, he rang the doorbell. A moment later a man opened up. He appeared to be about fifty with his short salt and pepper hair and a pair of square glasses propped on his nose.

“At last, my friend,” he greeted Krolock, pulling him into a man hug. “I was growing worried something bad happened to you as well.”

“No, I had just… ran into a little setback,” Krolock replied casually before turning to Meike. “This is Doctor Otto Siegert,” he introduced the man. “Otto, this is Meike. She is a dear friend of mine. I had brought her with me so that the two of you could meet and you could tell her a little about your studies.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Liebe Frau.” Otto took Meike’s hand and brought it to her lips.

“The pleasure is mine,” Meike uttered, staring at Otto’s long and sharp nails. She’d assumed for some reason that the Doctor would be human. Instead, he too was a vampire.

They went inside the house, where, in the hallway, they came across a younger woman with fair skin and short dark hair that left in plain sight the two band-aids plastered on the side of her neck. The following introductions revealed her name was Vanda.

Otto sent her upstairs to prepare a guest room before taking Meike and Krolock into the kitchen and inviting them to take a seat at the table while he put some water for tea.

“So Meike, you are seriously interested in vampires,” he began, rummaging through the cabinets. “Admirable for a human, if I may say so. Most of them are fine with old myths and legends.”

"I'm not," Meike said. "I need to know the truth about them now that I'd learned they actually exist."

"I was equally suprised when I first discovered that. It was in the forties. I was working in a medical research facility where one time, a man and a woman had been brought in after being caught drinking blood from a dying man. Orders were to determine what they were and if it was possible to involve them in the war. We questioned them and performed some tests. The results confirmed what many of us already thought but weren’t bold enough to say out loud: vampires. Real bloody vampires.” 

Otto looked blankly into space as he lost himself in the memories. A shadow passed across his features. 

"They were just a couple of kids," he said heavily. "I took pity on them and helped them escape. I had asked them to bite me, hoping that if there was another test subject no one would care to go after the escapees. The plan worked. Those kids ran free and we were able to continue our research for a few more months before I decided to blow up the lab. It was the right thing to do. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if people, especially certain kinds of people knew there existed such a simple if a little gruesome way to achieve immortality. Although a more accurate term would be longevity since vampire can be killed and it doesn’t even take any particularly sophisticated means to do it.”

The whistle of the kettle brought Otto back to the present. He turned the gas off and aptly prepared four cups of tea. In the meantime, Vanda walked into the kitchen bearing a tiny glass bowl on the bottom of which rolled a shiny red ball. When she placed the bowl in front of Krolock, Meike saw it was something akin to a liquid pill only several times larger.

“Yes, it's blood,” Vanda confirmed before Meike could voice her question. “About 10 ml. The optimal daily dose for a healthy adult vampire.”

“We obtain it from willing donors under the pretense of a regular blood collection," Otto added. "We then convert it into this form which allows longer storage and easier transport.”

Meike grinned happily at the discovery but then she thought of Anton and Vanda and her face darkened. "You guys can feed without harming anyone," she said through gritted teeth, "and yet you still do."

“The consumption of prepackaged blood may satisfy our physical need but it cannot make up for the pleasure of a bite." Saying that the Doctor turned to Vanda who exchanged his gaze with the same burning need. “You see, biting isn’t just about feeding for us.”

Meike felt heat rise to her cheeks as memories of the ball and then the situation in the bathroom flashed through her mind. She glanced at Krolock. The vampire was staring at the offered blood as if trying to decide whether to take it or not.

“Thanks for the thought,” he finally said, pushing the bowl away, “but I’m hoping to have… a proper meal soon and wouldn’t want to spoil myself the pleasure.”

Meike swallowed hard, more than aware the meal the vampire was talking about was her. Her insides churned but she couldn’t be sure if it was in fear or a sick sense of anticipation.

 

**To be continued...**


End file.
